Mr. Speaker, I will be happy to reply to the three questions put by my colleague from Hochelaga—Maisonneuve.
Yes, health is the top priority in Quebec. It should also be this government's priority. Even if you are a millionaire, when you have health problems, you feel defeated and you would like to recover your health at any price. Therefore, I do think it is important to invest generously in health care and in prevention measures to maintain health.
I also answer yes to the question concerning the Romanow commission. Investing in this commission is useless. In my region, I often meet the people from the Régie régionale de la santé. Studies have been made. The Quebec government carried out studies. There was the Clair commission. The Quebec government said it would implement the commission's recommendations. We are putting all that forward. This is a rehashed commission. The government could invest this considerable amount of money in health; instead, it uses it to please a friend of the party. Mr. Romanow must certainly be a close friend of the Liberal Party, and that party always returns favours.
We have gone beyond that. We have reached a point where what we say is that, for health, the money owed to the provinces has to be given back to them. The federal government has to put money on the table so that provinces can finally have what they need to provide services to the population.
The member for Hochelaga—Maisonneuve has asked me a question regarding my colleague from Chicoutimi—Le Fjord. I hope that he is working in the same direction as I am, because I am working for the well-being of my region. I certainly hope that he is doing the same thing, because there cannot be too many people working for the regions.
It is a known fact that this government does not know the regions, for example the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean region. For the government, the regions are Montreal, Quebec City, the maritimes, Ontario and Western Canada. As far as I am concerned, my region is the nicest region in the whole of Quebec and I would even say of Canada. I hope that the member for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord is doing the same thing as I am; I hope that he is putting all his energy into convincing the federal government to give $1 billion back to Quebec so that the health system will work properly and meet the needs of those who are ill.