Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely right. The provinces are the front line deliverers of the services. People cannot tell me that home care is the same in downtown Toronto as it is in what we could say is the outback of Saskatchewan, the remote areas of Saskatchewan. From that perspective, provinces have the ability to deliver on their mandate and be much more in tune with what needs to take place. The caveat here is that we cannot and should not allow the provinces to take federal money without some accountability measures.
The provinces should be asked how will they spend those dollars to force measurable outcomes that will drive efficiencies and sustainability into the system as we move forward into the 21st century. We say there should be a collaborative approach. If we do not go there, the mandate of the federal government will not be followed. We must be mindful that the mandate for the federal government is accountability.