Mr. Speaker, could the member shed some light on the fact that over the last 10 or 15 years we have seen a significant drop in transfers to the province, to the point that some of them are finding it very difficult to deliver those very important programs on which communities rely?
Back in the early to mid-1990s the federal government changed the Canada Health Act into the Canadian Health and Social Transfer Act. All who watched that knew there would be a subsequent $7 billion reduction in the transfer to provinces. This created a huge imbalance in my view. This is now beginning to play itself out in terms of the deterioration of health care services and community services in every province.
This is a very timely debate. I am pleased have the opportunity to participate in it and to ask the member to comment on the--