Before the next election. I am sure that, within a few weeks, he will be making another promise to the people in his riding regarding work on highway 30, as the Liberals are also planning to do in connection with highway 175 in Lac-Saint-Jean—Saguenay, to save the bacon of their members there. It will be just like the last time, when the same Liberal members and candidates needed the help of the federal government to get them out of trouble.
It is very likely that what was announced in the last budget relating to health will also turn up in campaign promises in coming weeks.
In addition to serving up the same old story as far as reinvestment in health is concerned, this federal budget reopens the door to total federal interference in areas of jurisdiction that belong to the provinces. While the needs are in Quebec and the money is in Ottawa, we have learned that Health Canada will be taking $404 million to establish an agency responsible for the management of infectious diseases.
We also learn that, in 2004-05 and 2005-06, $165 million will be included in the budget for a public health agency, when Quebec already has its own such institute. The government has nothing to teach us about how services should be delivered. The federal government is creating a public health agency when Quebec already has the Institut national de santé publique.
I should point out that Quebec, and the Liberal Government of Quebec, also feel that this interference is unacceptable. Philippe Couillard, Quebec's health minister, said the following on March 19:
It is not right for an organization that is somewhat of a minority shareholder at 16% to assume the right to oversee and audit health care systems in Canada when it does not make a firm financial commitment.
He made this statement a few weeks ago, on March 19, just before the federal budget was brought in. It is as if the Government of Quebec were giving the federal government a solemn pledge that it will never accept federal interference in its jurisdiction.
The Romanow report was clear. The government often takes its inspiration from this report. Just last week, in a written statement—which is unusual for him—the current health minister referred to the Romanow report. What does this report say about funding? It says that the federal government must be expected to fund at least 25% of health care costs in Canada.
A few weeks ago, the federal government's share stood at 16%. The federal budget has reduced the federal share of health care costs to 4.5%. This is a flagrant injustice from a government that says, and will be saying in the coming weeks, that health is its priority.
This is the first fiscal imbalance I think should be pointed out in the current budget. In the few minutes I will have after oral question period, I will discuss the other two imbalances that are found in the March 23 budget.