Madam Speaker, the member for Laurier—Sainte-Marie just gave us a huge sales pitch. I remind him that health transfers used to increase by 6% every year. Stephen Harper's Conservatives slashed that increase to less than 3%, taking $36 billion from the provinces over a period of about 10 years, and the Liberal government has picked up where the Conservatives left off.
When the member talks about scraping together bits and pieces from different programs, he is avoiding the fundamental question, as health care costs increase by 5.4% a year. How can the provinces absorb these costs when the federal government increases transfers by just 3%?
My colleague is familiar with the concept of sustainable development, so I would like to hear his thoughts on a sustainable health care system.