Jean Chrétien

[Health, February 6th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I had the agreement of all the premiers of all the provinces that the five conditions of medicare will be respected.

It is the law of the land that all of the provinces must respect and if they do not respect the five conditions of medicare, they will face the normal penalties that we had to carry out previously when some provinces did not respect the five conditions of medicare.

[Health, February 6th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, we were discussing a formula on a per capita basis and, of course, the per capita basis is not satisfactory for the territorial governments.

I said to the three leaders that this is a different type of problem. It makes no sense to treat them exactly the same way as the provinces because their populations are too small.

I said there will be other meetings. We will adjust the health requirements for the people of the north on a bilateral basis because it could not be treated the same way as the provinces on a per capita basis. That makes no sense at all for them.

[Health, February 6th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the Romanow report called for $15 billion over the next three years. What we offered yesterday was $17 billion in new money, money that will be added to provincial budgets over the next three years.

I think I may have made a mistake; maybe I should have stopped at $15 billion.

[Health, February 6th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, we have provided $17 billion for the next three years. This is new money added to the budget starting April 1, 2003. That is the reality.

I would like to remind the hon. member that Quebec ranks 9 out of 10 when it comes to spending its own money for patients in the province. Perhaps they should do a bit more themselves before pointing the finger at others.

[Health, February 6th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I have referred to $2.5 billion by year end, but there is another $1.5 billion set aside this year to make it possible to give the provinces $500 million a year for equipment over the next three years.

There is nothing that delights me more than to hear questions like these coming from Bloc Quebecois members, as only a few years ago they wanted out of Canada because the country was bankrupt. All of a sudden, they beleive that the Canadian government is managing public affairs too well and has too much money.

[Health, February 6th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, $2.5 billion will be transferred to the provinces on March 31, 2003, and a total of $17 billion in new money over the next three years, over and above what is being transferred under this year's budget.

He wanted more. I would have been surprised if he had said “That is too much”. In my opinion, $17 billion over three years is a lot of money.

[Iraq, February 6th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians will make our own policies. I remember that I was a member of the House of Commons when the government did not support the intervention of the Americans in the Vietnam war.

We were not there. They asked us to be there. We were not. We are not always there. We make our own decisions, but I do say, yes, Saddam Hussein has to disarm. He has to respect resolution 1441. He has some more days to comply and he is taking a big risk if he does not comply soon.

[Iraq, February 6th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, we have had the same position since last summer. We said no activities, and that war cannot start there unless there is an agreement with approval of the Security Council. In resolution 1441 it has demanded that some inspectors go there and do the job. We have said they have to do their job and report back.

Next week Dr. Blix will report again, and the Security Council will advise. If the Security Council approves the beginning of the war, of course Canada is always there to play its role.

[Health, February 6th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, it is a system where all the premiers agreed with me that it is very important that accountability and transparency be well understood by the people. They said they would collaborate, that we would be able from there on to compare apples with apples and oranges with oranges, and the provinces would compare their success in relation to the others.

If the federal government is not doing in its own jurisdiction the appropriate work that it should do, we will be able to know that, compared to the provincial governments. It is an accountability and clarity that will be very useful in the system.

[Health, February 6th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I tabled a document that has been accepted by the premiers. I said, “If you want to have the money you have to accept this agreement”. I did not advance the money on the table definitively unless they were to accept this agreement. The document has been tabled, circulated and approved by all the premiers of the provinces.

Of course they wanted more money. I wish I had more money, but the reality is that we are giving $17.3 billion of new money over three years. I never thought I would be able to do that much.