Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for pointing out that indeed this budget has received a significant amount of media attention. In fact there have been thousands of hits as the hon. member described, thousands of placements in the media. This budget has been a very, very powerful good news message. The media has been anxious to analyse its content exactly for Canadians.
The hon. member quite rightly stood up to say that we are always interested in making sure that the money is spent wisely, that it goes to the purpose for which it was intended. I do not have any reservations in saying that $3.6 million spent on a budget of approximately $150 billion as a percentage of the actual budget is not a huge amount of money. It is very important however that it be spent wisely to make sure that all Canadians understand the details of exactly what is in the budget. This is what affects them most deeply.
The hon. member pointed out that in her opinion $3.6 million would provide approximately 150 chronic care beds. I would simply ask the member to do the calculation as to what $11.5 billion will do to the health care system in terms of providing chronic care beds, MRI and other equipment, additional nursing staff in hospitals, and additional recruitment opportunities for doctors.
That is exactly what this budget does. It provides $11.5 billion in additional health care funds to the provinces over the next five year period. That is quite a substantial amount of money. In comparison to $3.6 million, quite frankly it is a very powerful addition to the health care system. That does not include the additional funds that have been put in place for existing federal government programs.