Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of questions for the member.
It is my understanding that when the health care system began, this project was to be funded 50% by the provinces and 50% by the federal government. I think we are now down to about 16% for the federal government, or somewhere around 15%, and up to 85% and even higher for the provinces.
I also know that in 1993 the government took a healthy chunk out of the transfer payments to the provinces which maintain health care. In Alberta that resulted in about a 35% decrease in funding to provide health care services. It was probably a higher amount in Ontario.
It is amazing that the member would stand and condemn those provinces for trying to do something about the situation that exists in their provinces when it is the federal government that has created the problem by these extremely high cuts that have never come close to being replaced. I would like his comment on what has happened to the 50:50 help.
Knowing the member as I do, I wonder how he feels about the millions and millions of dollars being spent by the government on RCMP investigations at HRDC, and all of the spending going on at the heritage department for films like Bubbles Galore and a committee on seniors and sexuality. Those are a couple of examples of the hundreds of absolutely stupid things on which the government has spent money. I say stupid because that is what they are.
I wonder how he feels about this absolutely idiotic spending that goes on within his government.