Madam Speaker, I hope the hon. member across the way does not disagree with what I am about to say. He acknowledged that tax points continue to grow and will continue to grow. However it is important to recognize, and I hear this from my constituents on a consistent basis, that Canadians want to see the national government play a role in national programs.
The province of British Columbia wanted to impose a residency requirement for the collection of social assistance. The only reason the decision was reversed was that the national government would have held back a cash transfer which would have imposed and reflected what Canadians were saying. They want national programs which, if not exactly the same from province to province, at least adhere to specific criteria to some extent like the health care program and social assistance programs.
Why is there a cash portion in our transfers? It is to ensure that national standards or a national approach to these programs is clearly evident. We have seen that with respect to social assistance and we want to see it with respect to health care.