Mr. Speaker, first, for the benefit of Quebecers and Canadians who are watching, I would like to say that today is the Bloc Quebecois' opposition day. My colleague, the member for Hochelaga—Maisonneuve moved this motion. It simply means that the Bloc Quebecois blames the Government of Canada, the Liberal government, for paying only 14% of health care costs, while trying to divert attention by creating the Romanow commission, whose mandate is to report on the state of the state of health care in Canada.
This is a diversionary tactic, and that is what my colleague tried to express in his motion. It is hard for those who are watching, for Quebecers, to understand this.
Every day in the House, we hear ministers, such as the Minister of Finance or the Minister of Health, tell us that the federal government is investing more in 2002 than it did in 2001. It is hard to understand, but it is possible to defend their position. Indeed, if we take the evolution of federal transfers in Quebec, in 2001-02, the federal government will invest $4.5 billion in transfers, all fields combined, in health, in education and in social services. The amount that will be allocated for health will be $2.35 billion, invested by the federal government or given in cash transfers for health care in Quebec.
In 2002-03, it will be the same amount. It is already planned. Agreements have been negotiated. We should remember that the federal government keeps boasting about a negotiated agreement with the provinces. It always boils down to the same thing: take it or leave it. The amounts have already been announced.
For 2002-03, it will be $4.5 billion; for 2003-04, it will be $4.6 billion; for 2004-05, it will be $4.8 billion; so it will be the same amount for 2002 and 2003. Two years in a row, the government will pay the same amount, namely $2.35 billion for health, or a little bit more than it paid in 2000-01, but a lot less than might be needed as a result of health care expenditures.
In Quebec, health care expenditures are increasing by $875 million a year. My colleague for Rosemont—Petite-Patrie gave a very articulate explanation of this earlier. It amounts to a 5% increase in the health care annual budget in the province of Quebec. In the other provinces across Canada, we see similar increases simply due to an aging population, longer life expectancy and the arrival of new drugs on the market. Governments are investing more and more money in health care.
Between 2001 and 2005—for the next four years—transfers to Quebec will only increase by $300 million while annual expenditures in health only will increase by $875 million.
Considering the way health care expenditures and federal transfers to the provinces are increasing, by 2004-05, the federal share will drop to only 13% of health care expenditures in Quebec.
The situation is the same in the rest of Canada. The government of Ontario has released an ad using pills to show what the governments are paying: 86 pills for Ontario and 14 for the federal government. It is the same in Quebec: 86% of health care is paid by the province and 14% by the federal government.
My learned colleague from Rosemont—Petite-Patrie showed that when medicare was established in Canada, it was half and half, 50-50.
Last fall, in Victoria, the premiers of all the provinces—including the PQ government of Quebec, the Conservative government of Ontario, and the Liberal government of British Columbia—made a unanimous request. They all requested the same thing: that the federal government increase its contribution from 14% in 2001-02 to 18%. Under the agreements the federal government is imposing on the provinces, it is supposed to drop to 13% by 2004-05. So, with this unanimous request, the provinces are urging the federal government to raise its contribution to health care funding from 14% to 18%.
What I find ironic is to hear the finance minister tell the House—and he may be partly right—that he is increasing the federal government's contribution, but it can never match the increase in health care costs. This is the harsh reality we have to face.
As I said earlier, in the next four years, the federal government will be increasing its transfer to Quebec by $300 million, while health costs will rise by $875 million a year, for a total increase of close to $3.5 billion. The federal government will only increase its contribution by $300 million, which means that its share of the funding will go from 14% of health costs in 2001-02 to 13% in 2004-05.
That is how the finance minister always manages to pull one over on Quebecers and make them believe that he is increasing the federal government's contribution. But its share of the funding can never match the skyrocketing health care costs, and that is normal. New technologies are developed, and new drugs are put on the market. People are living longer and that is a good thing for all Quebecers and Canadians. But still, the costs of health care are increasing by 5% a year, while the federal funding, all things being equal, will be decreasing if we do not urge the government to wait no further before making huge investments in Canadian health care services.
Today, in her speech, the Minister of Health told the House that she does not deny these figures. In fact, we have yet to hear a minister challenge that percentage of 14%. Even the finance minister never denied it. He just keep telling us “We are investing more this year than we did last year”. True, they will keep making small increases, but health care costs will rise by 5% a year. That is how things stand. The federal government will hand out the money bit by bit, while the costs keep skyrocketing.
The minister candidly told us today that she has other fish to fry, that she has more than transfers to the provinces to deal with. Of course, she deals with prevention and research, at a cost of $580 million, and with information on food and on cigarette packages. She also deals with the health services provided to the first nations because, as she said, she is the one paying for the services provided to the first nations and the Inuit. She co-operates with other countries on research. She also deals with the renewal of health care in this country and with the Romanow commission. She deals with modernization and invests $800 million in the renewal of the basic system.
However, all this does not put any more money in the federal health care system or in each of the province's health care systems. These amounts are all spent for other activities, including research. It is all very good, but research yields results. New drugs and new technologies are being developed. However, there is nothing to guarantee that Canadians and Quebecers will have access to these new drugs simply because we are not being given any money to buy them. There is money for research, but none to buy the new drugs. This is what the Canadian government is doing.
Of course, they pride themselves on investing in the health care system. They say “Look, we are taking care of you”. They are indeed taking care of us, but the funding for the universal system we used to have is being lavished on the Romanow commission.
I will repeat here the four preliminary recommendations to make sure that Quebecers and all Canadians hear them well. The choices offered by the Romanow commission are as follows. First, public investment should be increased, which means that more money should be invested in the medicare system. That would be normal. Second, costs and responsibilities should be shared, which leads to the adoption of user fees. They will look into the possibility of having Canadians pay user fees on top of income taxes. Third, the role of the private sector should be increased, which would open the door to the private sector. And fourth, the delivery of health services should be reorganized to try and make the system more efficient without putting more money in.
Once again, my colleague's recommendation is totally relevant. We condemn this government for contributing only 14% and for establishing a phoney commission whose recommendations will not help the sick men and women from Quebec.