Mr. Speaker, we have listened to the Bloc Quebecois health critic give an overview of health issues and try to paint a negative picture of what the federal government is doing. At the end of his speech, I heard him say that Quebec was ill-served and underfunded.
I wish to remind the hon. member and all Canadians that Quebec is getting its fair share of the 2000 budget.
With 24% or 25% of Canada's population, Quebec is getting approximately 28% of transfer payments. It is getting 28% of transfer payments with 24% or 25% of the population. I do not think that it can cry wolf and complain about being underfunded compared to other regions in Canada and other provinces. The record must be set straight.
Second, I hear the hon. member basing his arguments on a lack of funding from the federal government. We have before us a motion by the Canadian Alliance members, who talk about a system in crisis, and would have us agree that Canada's health care system is in crisis and vote in favour of their motion.
We have a report before us from the provinces. They are asking for more money. That was already understood. We have known that for some time. In this report, the provinces are saying that Canada's system is not in crisis. There are pressures, problems, challenges, but it is the provinces, not the federal government, saying this. It is not the Liberal Party saying it. The provinces are saying “The Canadian health care system is not in crisis”. That is the actual conclusion of their report.
I would like to ask my colleague from the Bloc Quebecois what comment he has to make on the opinion recently expressed by Claude Castonguay, the father of health reform in the 1970s, and a man with a reputation for wisdom.
All political parties and all consultations defer to Mr. Castonguay. People like to get his point of view. On May 6 he was quoted in Le Devoir as follows “In backing the race toward a zero deficit, Quebec won the bet on taxation, but lost the one on health. Quebec has lost its shirt on that one”.
Not only has it not managed to reform the system, it has even lost its shirt. Mr. Castonguay also pointed out that there are a number of reforms that need to be looked at. He pointed out that, not only is the health system inefficient, but also there is absolutely no way to gauge its productivity, its performance.
These are, to my mind, severe criticisms and I would ask the hon. member for Hochelaga—Maisonneuve to consider that there is work to be done in all of the provinces as far as service organization and delivery are concerned. This was also said by the Quebec Minister of Finance, Bernard Landry, a month and a half ago, when it was reported that there were hundreds of millions of dollars, $850 million at that time, available to finance services for the people of Quebec.
Some Quebec patients are having to go the United States for cancer treatment, and for other treatments, at the present time. There are waiting lists, as everyone is well aware, and there is also $850 million which could be used. The Quebec Minister of Health was very surprised when this amount became known.
According to the Quebec Minister of Finance, “Our problem in Quebec is not just money, but also the use, the administration of that money”. The minister got that message clearly, because she is commissioning an in depth study, and then of course there is last year's study, which led to the Arpin report. The Minister of Health and the Government of Quebec are therefore well aware that service delivery and organization must be re-examined, as Mr. Castonguay has also suggested. We must, therefore, focus on a concerted effort to solve these problems.
I would like to know what our colleague thinks of Mr. Castonguay's diagnosis.