Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my colleague and friend, the member for Laurier—Sainte-Marie.
I have always said that Canadians' health and safety are too important to play partisan politics over. This is not the time. We must work together to help all Quebeckers and Canadians. The best way to do that is to take the time to listen to one another and engage in dialogue.
As I have said, and as we have all said, Canadians' health and safety have been our main concern in recent months. That was, is and will continue to be our main concern. That is our priority. I said it before, and I will say it again: We will always be there to protect the health and safety of all Canadians.
Before I go any further, I would like to underscore the work of our health care workers and the extraordinary sacrifice they have made during the pandemic. I am referring to doctors, nurses, health care aides and orderlies. These people are the cornerstone of our health care system. I would like to thank them from the bottom of my heart. Similarly, I would like to underscore the important work of the other people working alongside these health care workers, who do not get as much attention. They are also less visible, working more in the shadows. I am thinking of the security guards, janitors and all the support staff who keep our health care system running. They work in the shadows, but they must not be forgotten.
I would like us to keep them in mind in all of our discussions and debates. These people are on the front lines. These support workers are giving up time they could be spending with their families to take care of our loved ones, our parents and grandparents. They are putting their own lives at risk to protect all of us.
From the bottom of my heart, I thank all the health care professionals and all those working in the health care sector, day and night, from coast to coast to coast.
I would also like to underscore the work of our armed forces, our soldiers. I would like to underscore the contribution they made by helping seniors in long-term care facilities in Quebec and Ontario. I would also like to underscore the work of the Red Cross, whose workers are still on the ground right now, helping the men and women who work with our seniors. Every day, they are working incredibly hard to help provide care and support for our parents and grandparents.
As I have said many times before, helping the most vulnerable Canadians is not a matter of jurisdiction. Helping our seniors is not a matter of jurisdiction. Our seniors are not a paragraph or a line in the Constitution. They are our seniors. They are the people who gave birth to us. They are the people who built this society. We must all, collectively, be there for them.
I have to say that I find it deplorable that the members of the Bloc Québécois would rather pick a fight than work together for Canadians. I find that unfortunate. They are trying to stir up bogus quarrels with Quebec City, but there are none. We agree, we collaborate, we work together and we talk every day, and that goes for the various ministers' and members' offices and for political staff. We have been collaborating with akk the provinces since the beginning of the pandemic. We are still collaborating with the provinces, including Quebec. My friends in the Bloc Québécois may not want to hear it, but it is true. It is working well.
Is it perfect? No. That is how a federation, our federation, works. We can work together because we have the people's interests at heart.
It is important to mention that we are there for the provinces and territories. We were there, we are still there, and we will continue to be there.
That is why we gave the provinces and territories $41.9 billion this year and will be giving them another $235 billion over the next five years. At least one positive thing has come out of this horrible and difficult pandemic: the will and the ability to work together.
That is how we succeeded in making a historic $19-billion investment under the safe restart agreement to help all of the provinces.
That includes $700 million to support the health care system, $500 million to help people experiencing challenges related to mental health, substance use or homelessness, and $740 million to control and prevent infections in long-term care, home care and palliative care settings.
These are extremely concrete actions. These amounts are in addition to other investments in health care we made during the pandemic, including $500 million for the most pressing health system needs and $240 million for virtual care and digital tools, which are playing an increasingly larger role in the health care system.
What does that mean for Quebec in practical terms? For Quebec, it means $675 million for testing, contact tracing and data management, which are absolutely crucial for stopping a pandemic. It means $270 million to help the health care system get through the crisis and $166 million for the most vulnerable populations. These are concrete amounts for Quebec. It also means $675 million for personal protective equipment, since we know how important PPE is for health care workers.
Then there is all the rest, such as child care, sick leave and public transit. All of these things have become essential services during the pandemic. That it why we put $1.5 billion on the table. In all, we have given Quebec more than $3 billion for the health and safety of Quebeckers, in addition to the usual health transfer payments.
Just yesterday, the Deputy Prime Minister announced new investments that show our profound commitment to the health and safety of all Canadians.
Allow me to list them quickly. There is $ 1 billion to improve conditions in long-term care facilities. That means more money for ventilation, more staff and better infection control. All of this is absolutely essential in our fight against the pandemic.
It means more money for rapid testing, personal protective equipment and, of course, the purchase of vaccines. We have purchased or reserved 400 million doses of vaccine, the equivalent of 10 doses for every Canadian. That is more doses per capita than any other country in the world. We have been working for months with all of the provinces to prepare for the distribution of the vaccines.
When the Bloc Québécois talks about health care funding, I think we can agree that we have been there, we are still there and we will continue to be there for everyone.
I say to the Bloc Québécois that we have been there for everyone, including Quebec.
