Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary sounds like a broken record.
Senior officials have said that Ottawa's budget strategy is to intimidate Quebec and the provinces into going along or else being cut off. That is the gist of the budget rumours we are hearing.
Quebec needs health care transfers to be increased to 35%. Not only is Ottawa refusing to do so, but it also wants to force Quebec's long-term care homes to comply with Canadian standards and force Quebec to adopt a Canadian pharmacare program. Both of these initiatives have been unanimously rejected by the Quebec National Assembly.
Why not simply address Quebec's needs?