Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question, especially regarding the long-term care facilities.
I hear talk about the army, but this is not about federal jurisdiction. If we needed the help of the army, we might need to ask some serious questions. Quebec and Ontario asked for this help. Funding usually goes first to where it is most needed. Perhaps that is because those needs were not there before the pandemic.
As for the staff shortages and lack of equipment, if the provinces had received sustainable funding, that might have helped. I think that is the bone of contention.
The government is laying it on thick saying that the provinces needed help and that it responded by spending $600 million on this and $19 billion on that. When I spoke of masks, I was not talking about the coverings themselves, but about the people behind the masks and visors, those who wear the gloves and gowns so they can take care of people. If we had looked at this idea of ongoing, sustainable funding 20 or 25 years ago instead of playing games with the provinces' needs in their areas of jurisdiction, we would not be talking about all these amounts of money that the government pays out piecemeal.