Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to have the opportunity to put a question to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, who I generally find to be very eloquent. I listened carefully to his speech, especially when he said that his greatest frustration as a federal MP was to see the difficulties experienced by our seniors and the most disadvantaged with health care.
I would like to ask him two questions. First, why did he not choose to run at the provincial level if his greatest concern is health care, which is not a federal jurisdiction but the exclusive jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces?
Second, given that he chose to become a federal member and also the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, why not ensure that the federal government increases health transfers to make it possible for provinces to carry out their responsibilities and why does he not ensure the timely enactment of regulations lowering the cost of drugs?