Mr. Speaker, we have heard a lot of complaints about the reality, or lack thereof, of the tax point transfer.
To tell the honest truth, I do not think Canadian citizens really care whether it is cash or tax points. They just want to know that their health care system and the people responsible for delivering the care have enough money to do it. How the finance department works out how that transfer takes place is of little interest to Canadians. Canadians are more interested in knowing that their health care dollars, coming from both provincial tax sources and federal tax sources, are sufficient for their needs.
As I have said, we have to try to work collaboratively. I do not want to make statements about premiers or anybody else who seem to be complaining, because the best possible road for Canadians is that they believe and that it is true that we are doing our best to help one another.
The Romanow report goes a long way toward achieving that. Members will note that the health accord did not just quote from the federal report. It took the best ideas from the federal report and the three provincial reports that certain premiers had requested. Even in the health accord that the premiers signed with the Prime Minister, we have the best ideas that emanated from various studies across the country, whether they were sponsored by the federal government or a provincial government.
That is the way of the future. The funding will follow when this atmosphere of trust and mutual support continues to be built upon the foundation I described of the first ministers accord of 2003 and the large budgetary allocation which was part of that. It followed only a couple of weeks later in the 2003 budget.
When one considers that large amount of money has been enhanced this year by an extra $2 billion to relieve pressures in the health care system, the provinces will begin to believe and understand that we are there to support their efforts. We want their cooperation in sharing information with Canadians so that Canadians are clear on where the money came from and where the money went. We want Canadians to know that their health care system is improving as the years go on.