I feel that the minister is angry. However, the truth must be said in this House. The minister can be emotional all she wants, no one will prevent me from saying that the government made a mistake when it decided that a 14-year-old child would be considered an adult in court because of the young offenders bill. Let us think about that.
All stakeholders in Quebec have condemned the absolutely detrimental nature of this bill. Without Michel Bellehumeur, to whom we must continue to pay tribute in the House, the government would have acted like a steamroller, without showing any sensitivity toward Quebec.
I had to remind the House of this fact. This leads me to another issue involving the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness when she was health minister. Today, I must point out something about the reproductive technologies legislation. I do not know if she has looked into this issue. Her record is not brilliant, but she is an endearing person.
Through you, Mr. Speaker, I want to say that the current Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness is an endearing person, but sometimes, she does not listen. Every time she did not listen to the member for Hochelaga—Maisonneuve, she found herself in a situation where she violated Quebec's rights.
I will talk about the legislation on reproductive technologies. There was a consensus in Quebec. You know how spineless the Charest government is when it comes to defending Quebec's interests. Yet, even the current health minister in the Charest government, Mr. Couillard, condemned this bill. Do you know why? Because it contradicted 14 acts that were passed by the national assembly, including the Civil Code. If there is something that makes Quebec a distinct society, it is the Civil Code.
Nevertheless, when she was health minister, the current Minister of Public Safety proposed a bill that was not acceptable to the National Assembly. She wanted to legalize surrogacy while the Civil Code did not recognize it.
I have to mention certain facts. I know that it is difficult. Remember Jean-Paul Sartre, the philosopher, who said that words were loaded guns. Sometimes truth has to be stronger than partisan considerations.
Unfortunately, the then health minister introduced a bill that, once again, was adopted unanimously. Since there is not much that happens on the Hill that I do not know about, I have learned that since the other place did not completely dispose of this bill before prorogation, it could be reintroduced.
In January 2003, with its usual wisdom and clear-sightedness, the Bloc Quebecois proposed that the bill be split in two so that parliamentarians could vote on prohibitions. There was unanimity in the House. Nobody wanted to live in a society that would authorize cloning.
There was some fifteen prohibited practices in this bill. Remember that in January 2003, the Raelians were in the news, and we did not know if they had succeeded in cloning humans.
I see the minister is sighing , but I encourage him to keep calm and to recognize objectively that the facts I am bringing before the House are totally verifiable. If the minister of the day had accepted that the bill be divided into two bills, that is with one on the banned practices, and one dealing with the Canadian agency with responsibility for regulating reproductive technologies, we would have voted against the latter.
We are very much aware that there was a royal commission. Moreover the wife of the former Prime Minister and member for Calgary was a member of that commission, which recommended putting an end to this legislative vacuum.
Since 1993, the present government, here is the dramatic point, the present Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness greatly contributed to this, wanted to do some nation building with health. This is a government that, when the public system was put in place, was paying 50¢ of every dollar spent on health and reduced it to 14¢, thereby creating a common front made up of all the first ministers, regardless of political stripe, NDP, Conservative, Liberal.
At the interprovincial level, we have seen the provinces rise above partisanship and join forces to urge the federal government to restore the transfer payments to their 1993-94 level. Unfortunately, at this point in time, the federal contribution to health is still at 14 cents for every dollar.
At the end of my speech, if the minister wishes to reply, we will ask for unanimous consent. However, I will repeat that, at this point in time, only 14 cents on every dollar invested come from the federal government, which is putting a lot of pressure, as you can imagine, on provincial health systems.
There have been seven provincial public inquiries. In Quebec, we had the Clair Commission. All of these commissions came to the same conclusion, that the problems the provinces have with the health care system are directly linked to the federal government withdrawal from health.
Unfortunately, I have to tell the truth and remind the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness that she stood by, while she was health minister, and let the situation deteriorate. It is quite sad. I say so much to my chagrin, because it is not in my nature to be partisan.