Mr. Speaker, I have to say that we on this side of the House have had it with watching this minister rise and ask the provinces to work with him, when the minister and the government have unilaterally cut transfers the provinces were entitled to expect in the health care sector.
I have to say that a person has to be a real hypocrite to rise in this House and call for co-operation when, last week, the provinces tabled a report in which they unanimously—I hope the minister will have the decency to rise in this House and acknowledge it—asked the minister to reinstate the transfer payments at their 1994-95 levels.
In 1968, the government established a social contract in 1968 in which health care programs, in terms of transfer payments and funding, were to be shared 50-50, that is, 50% by the federal government and 50% by the provinces. However, the government did not honour its part of the bargain, because it contributes 12%, that is 12 cents on the dollar. The federal government's contribution has shrunk to 12%, and the provinces have to assume the rest.
The best thing this minister could do to establish his credibility in the House is not give us fine speeches for the leadership campaign, but exert pressure for the reinstatement of the transfer payments at the 1994-95 level, as Brian Tobin, Bernard Lord, Pauline Marois and all the health ministers have asked him to do. He must stop his fine speeches and do something. That is what we want from him.