Mr. Speaker, I listened attentively to my colleague across the way. I must say that one of the things that struck me is that our fiscal house is now in order and because of that we were able to come up with the agreement with the provinces in September 2001 of $21.5 billion in support of the CHST. From 1981 to 1997 we had a $560 billion cumulated deficit. We are now able to transfer additional dollars to the provinces because of good fiscal management.
The issue is not just one of dollars. For example, last year Ontario announced $1.2 billion in new health care funding. It forgot to say that $1.1 billion was federal transfers. It is a question of management.
The national round table on health care said it years ago. The issue is not simply money, it is how its managed. Who manages the health care system? The provinces, not the federal government. We notice in the latest Environics poll that Canadians are now saying that maybe the federal government should be involved in managing the health care system and managing education. I notice my friend from the Bloc is getting agitated which is always good to see.
Would my friend from the NDP comment on the issue of management of those programs and not simply on the issue of dollars?