Madam Speaker, unfortunately, the Bloc Québécois cannot support this bill in its present form.
Earlier, I asked the hon. member for Scarborough—Guildwood how, in the bill, Quebec's specificity, or Quebec's specific agreement, negotiated in September 2004 at the first ministers' conference, was recognized. The hon. member said that all the communiqués were incorporated into the bill and, consequently, that asymmetrical federalism and the agreement reached with Quebec were recognized de facto in the legislation.
Unfortunately, I must correct the hon. member opposite. While there is a brief mention of all the communiqués, the reference is found in a very specific part of the bill dealing with the parliamentary review. What is a parliamentary review? Once the various measures included in this bill are implemented, how will they be monitored? How will the accountability process relating to the implementation of these various measures be conducted? Indeed, the relevant clause provides that, for greater certainty and for the purposes of this section, the 2004 10-year plan to strengthen health care includes the communiqués released in respect of the first ministers' meeting on the future of health care that was held from September 13 to 15, 2004.
This is unfortunate, for it shows just how sensitive this government is to Quebec. For so important an accord, an accord on asymmetrical federalism which even the government recognized as historic, when the time comes to implement it, this government forgets the most important thing, recognizing the distinctiveness of Quebec in implementing the accord.
How is it recognized? I remind you that, in the wake of this 2004 conference, the government acknowledged that asymmetrical federalism allows for any province to have specific agreements and arrangements. The first ministers also agreed to a separate communiqué to report on the arrangements made between the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec with regard—and this is very important—to the interpretation and implementation of this communiqué. The funding made available by the federal government will be used by the Government of Quebec to implement its own plan for ensuring timely access to quality health care and reducing wait times.
We are not talking about parliamentary review or accountability in this agreement. We are talking about the interpretation and implementation of the agreement and the possibility for Quebec to have its own plan. Unfortunately, we do not find this in the bill.
Thanks to the vigilance of the Bloc Québécois, I know that discussions have been held, and are still being held, to ensure that these provisions, namely recognition of this communiqué which recognizes asymmetrical federalism and the specificity of Quebec, are included in the bill.
Let us be quite clear. If this fact is recognized only in the sections referring to parliamentary review, we cannot support this bill. That would be a shame, for we are of course talking about substantial funding for the health of our fellow citizens. Also, this is an agreement which was subsequently acknowledged as an established fact. I refer more specifically, for example, to the conference of health ministers held in Vancouver last October. The news release was very clear. A series of measures was listed relating to this agreement—measures concerning, for instance, reduction of wait times, improved access, the national pharmaceuticals strategy, and general and specific public health goals. The news release recognized the specificity of Quebec by mentioning, for example, that Quebec's contribution to these initiatives would correspond to the provisions of the document entitled “Asymmetrical Federalism that Respects Quebec's Jurisdiction”, which accompanies the 10-year plan to strengthen health care.
The health ministers and the first ministers agreed. Now the time has come to introduce the bill implementing these elements. Through a lack of sensitivity, no doubt—thank heavens that we are here in the House to remind them—they forget to include these elements so that they have the importance that they deserve.
It is the same in regard to human resources in the health sector. Quebec has a specific agreement. In the same news release from the health ministers, it said: “Quebec, having its own process, will collaborate on this initiative by supporting ongoing exchange of information”. One way it will do this is through its own health commissioner.
What has been negotiated by the first ministers and what has been presented by this government as a historic agreement must be referred to in the bill and not just in connection with the parliamentary review.
What did this joint Quebec—Canada communiqué say, more specifically? It stated that ,in regard to the application of the clause in question, this specific agreement did not deal solely with the parliamentary review, but was much broader. It said, and I quote:
—resting on asymetrical federalism, that is, flexible federalism that notably allows for the existence of specific agreements and arrangements adapted to Quebec's specificity—
Quebec will apply its own wait time reduction plan, in accordance with the objectives, standards and criteria established by the relevant Quebec authorities—
There is nothing here about federal interference; it is all about Quebec's powers. It also says, and I quote:
The Government of Quebec will report to Quebeckers—
This joint communiqué goes much further. Indeed, it says the following in the last paragraph:
Nothing in this communiqué shall be construed as derogating from Quebec's jurisdiction. This communiqué shall be interpreted as fully respecting its jurisdiction.
In short, this means that health is Quebec's jurisdiction, period. This is a fact that is not mentioned anywhere in the bill, which talks solely about parliamentary review, and that is too bad.
As soon as we read this bill, we started negotiating with the government to ensure that this reference would be included, ideally in the introduction. It would really be too bad if we could not support this bill because of a lack of clarity on the way the measures to provide the Government of Quebec with considerable financial amounts will be implemented—amounts that will enable it to accomplish its missions, in the health field.
The federal government made us laugh when it said this was an historic agreement and that finally two federalist governments had managed to agree. However, this sense of harmony was short lived because of the conference on equalization that was held in the weeks that followed.
Following a number of criticisms by other provinces and various hon. members regarding the acceptance of this asymmetrical federalism, the government had no choice but to strengthen its resolve on equalization and impose an agreement on the provinces, especially Quebec. It is too bad.
If, in the context of equalization, we had managed to reach a more flexible agreement that was more generous toward Quebec, similar to the recent agreement reached with Newfoundland, for example, then the federal government may not have needed to present a bill that also gives effect to its interference in the area of health, by allocating specific funds to specific areas. It is unfortunate because this is not under the federal government's jurisdiction.
Once again, the government claims to know it all and know best how to manage every issue, especially those under Quebec and provincial jurisdictions. When it comes to managing federal jurisdictions, this government—and the previous government—has a disastrous record.
I could give you many examples, such as agriculture, the Canadian Forces, the softwood lumber crisis, and the mad cow crisis. These are all matters under federal jurisdiction in which the government has almost totally failed.
At the same time, this government is saying it has money it does not know what to do with and that it will show us how to manage a slew of situations that come under provincial responsibility, such as health. Thankfully the agreement confirms the specificity of Quebec and its jurisdiction over health. This must be recognized clearly, precisely and without ambiguity at the beginning of the bill so that the reference applies to all the measures in the bill and not just the parliamentary review and accountability.
This situation is surprising, to say the least, since one would have thought that the members of Parliament from Quebec who sit on the government side would have sounded the alarm. It seems to me that as soon as they read this bill, someone in the government party ought to have noticed that an essential element was missing. Just by chance, once again, something was forgotten, demonstrating, I repeat, the lack of sensitivity to the needs and specificity of Quebeckers.
Consequently, without a guarantee, without amendment to this bill, it will be impossible for us to support it. We will keep on fighting. We will ensure that this bill is amended to correspond with the agreement made by all the first ministers, in order to correct this unforgiveable oversight.
I hope that we will get the government's cooperation on this subject so essential to the health of our fellow citizens. I fervently hope that in committee the members of the government party will quickly remedy this situation. Because, as the hon. member for Scarborough—Guildwood mentioned, this bill must be implemented as soon as possible, so that all citizens of Canada and Quebec can benefit from the money provided under this agreement and this bill.
Why are this agreement and this money so important? We must not forget that in recent years the federal government has radically slashed transfer payments, thereby making it necessary to raise its funding one notch higher, bringing it to nearly 25%. Thank God this will permit the Government of Quebec, in particular, to provide some services which, at the moment, are very difficult to provide, since naturally it must fund other sectors. I am thinking, for example, of education. In this field, again due to the government's draconian cuts, federal funding is now around 12%. As a result, the provinces are called upon to make an extra effort, Quebec especially. In fact, Quebec has to ensure that the services it must provide to its citizens are adequately financed.
This agreement will ease the situation somewhat. Still, in order for this agreement to be effective—I repeat: without this condition we will not be able to support this bill—it is essential that the joint communiqué recognizing asymmetrical federalism, the situation specific to Quebec and Quebec's full jurisdiction over health be acknowledged.
In conclusion, I call upon the government MPs to assure us as promptly as possible of their absolute and total cooperation in getting these amendments into the bill, as otherwise we will not be able to support it.