Mr. Speaker, I cannot take any more questions, because I have to go to a committee meeting, but I will answer this one with particular care.
First, the hon. member who just spoke—he is a friend of mine, in spite of the fact that he sometimes gets upset at me—is the chair of the Standing Committee on Health. He is the one person in this House who is in the best position to convince the federal government to restore transfer payments. I would like him to stand in his place and give us, in the respect of his oath of office, if that oath means anything, a single instance where the Quebec Minister of Health did not co-operate with the Canadian government.
We know full well that the Quebec government used up all its health resources. The problem is that the money is in Ottawa, but the needs are in Quebec. This is the problem with the political system in which we live.
What is the hon. member's duty? As a member from Ontario, his duty is to put pressure on the federal government so that fiscal justice can be achieved and transfer payments restored.
If this is done in the next budget, all the members of the National Assembly will be grateful to the hon. member. Finance minister Bernard Landry will solemnly rise and say “We have $500 million extra for health, and it is coming from Ottawa. This is no handout, it is our taxes”. In fact, it is our taxes now but, unfortunately, we are not getting what we should be getting out of the $30 billion.
The Parti Quebecois government at the national assembly always co-operated when the situation warranted it. The issue is one of finance.
Of course, as I said and as the Quebec minister of health has said, this does not mean we cannot have a collective thinking process on how to structure health care. Some people question the regional management structure, while others wonder about certain types of care. The Quebec government is ready to participate in this debate.
I invite the hon. member to do the right thing—he should not leave, because I am not finished—and put pressure on the federal government to restore transfer payments for health. This is the way to go if this government wants to have some credibility with the provinces.