Mr. Speaker, indeed the Government of Quebec, which did not sign the social union agreement along with the other provinces, was soundly punished for this. According to the federal budget, social transfers are made on a per capita basis, but if one looks at the reality, there is $150 million for Quebec and about $900 million for Ontario.
Doing the math, this must mean Ontario has a population of some 42 million, since Quebec has approximately 7 million. So it can already been seen that, where the social transfer is concerned, and they speak of payments according to population, the figures do not balance out.
Health is a provincial area of jurisdiction. It is one Quebec is capable of managing properly. While Quebec, and a number of other provinces, were concluding that health reform was necessary, the federal government was brutally slashing health funding, which pretty well hamstrung all the efforts the provinces and Quebec were putting into health.
Now, with all these surpluses in its coffers, the federal government is trying to interfere in all manner of areas in which it has no business, seeking any excuse, seeking to justify its existence. As far as I am concerned, however, the federal government no longer has any reason to exist.