Mr. Speaker, I do not know if I am going to be as eloquent as my colleague was, but I will try to express my point of view, which is very similar to that of all my colleagues here in this House.
I think that we have been in politics long enough and we have seen enough bills before this House to realize that this bill deals with two totally unrelated issues.
As my colleague mentioned, if we have to pass a specific bill to put these $2 billion for health in a trust, then let us do it.
But here, the government is tricking us by rolling two bills into one. It is trying to get us to swallow this when it knows perfectly well that we will not go for it.
We agree about the $2 billion. All the members would vote in favour of a bill dealing exclusively with this issue. There would be no problem; it would pass in a flash. The members opposite know that, and this is why they are trying to get us to swallow another equalization bill.
As my colleague already said, we cannot accept that. We cannot accept this bill as is. We want it split and sent back to committee. Once it is split, we will be able to consider the first part and deal with the issue of the $2 billion.
We have been talking about these $2 billion for a year. Right now, people in hospitals are waiting, emergency rooms are clogged, it is just crazy. In my community, Saint-Jérôme, ER patients have to be sent to other hospitals because of the overload.
Send us the $2 billion and stop toying with us. It is just ridiculous. The time is now. We need that money and we know what to do with it. Do not worry, when it gets into the provinces' pockets, whatever government they have in place, the money will go directly to health care, directly to the people.
What is the government waiting for to give them the money? It is toying with us again. How long will it take to pass this bill? It is just making things more complicated.
When my colleague talked about retroactivity, she was entirely correct. This is not in the bill. Will it be agreed to in committee? If not, obviously we will vote against this.
Furthermore, it is not true that negotiations will take one month because the parties have been trying to reach an agreement for five years. Not one province considers the equalization formula, in its current state, to be fair and equitable. Consequently, we are told, “We are going to propose this just in case”.
This is an election bill because we are headed for an election. So, they are taking advantage of the situation to delay things for one year, without any retroactivity. This is dishonest for the public and the provinces.