Madam Speaker, I suppose I should not be asking the member this question because I think it is unfair. I think that he, like most Liberal backbenchers, like most Canadians, does not really understand the implications of the numbers as announced.
When this budget was talked about as being a health care budget, the number which they chose to use was $11.5 billion. If we look at what the budget is, it is an annual budget. The auditor general and other accounting experts have said that annual budgets should have their annual numbers stated. In smaller print, it says $2 billion a year.
Beyond that, $2 billion this year is mentioned, $2 billion next year, $2.5 billion, $2.5 billion and $2.5 billion. They project five years in advance and use the big number of $11.5 billion after taking $20 billion out of the health care system.
It is my understanding—and I would like the member to correct me if I am wrong, if he knows, and I do not think he will know—that when they say $2 billion this year and $2 billion next, it means $4 billion more and then $6.5 billion more and so on as an accumulation. Or is it simply that next year there will be no increase at all, but rather just $2 billion more than we had in the past? Then it would be $2 billion and no increase and then another $2 billion. Which is the right answer?