44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 14, 2022 11:00AM
Madam Speaker, we agree that more rapid tests are needed.
However, Quebec's health care systems and hospitals were already in trouble because of the federal health transfer formula, which does not even cover the increase in health care system costs. As we know, Quebec and all the provinces are calling for health transfers to increase to 35%.
Can my colleague talk to us about this without distracting us with all kinds of other things? What is going to happen with the recurring transfers?
84 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, I would like to know one thing.
My colleague said that the Conservatives are not opposed to vaccination. As we know, after the SARS crisis in 2003, the Naylor report criticized Canada for not having the capacity to manufacture vaccines. Of all the G7 countries, Canada is the only one that does not manufacture vaccines domestically. That is in part the result of the Trudeau government's inaction.
We lost four or five months of fighting COVID with a vaccine because of the Trudeau government's inaction. On August 10, 2021, the government announced that Moderna would set up a plant in Canada, likely in Montreal, which is what we were hoping for. However, the Trudeau government's investments will not do much—
126 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, I would like to know what my colleague thinks about the following.
Would it not have been a big help if the Liberal government had taken action and we were able to manufacture vaccines in Quebec or Canada?
40 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, we agree with the idea of funding rapid tests, but we do not agree with seeing health transfers decline year after year. In the 1960s, the federal government covered 50% of health care costs, but now, it contributes only 22%.
At the same time, it is interfering in other sectors while continuing to refuse to increase health transfers. We often see the NDP supporting these federal attempts to interfere in areas like dental insurance and pharmacare.
What does my colleague think about this?
85 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, Bill C‑10 establishes a one-time payment of $2.5 billion to Quebec and the Canadian provinces for expenses incurred since January 1, 2022, in relation to testing.
We agree with that, but the main problem, and my colleague spoke at length about this before me, is that cuts to federal health transfers are compromising the health care system in Quebec and in the Canadian provinces. From our Quebec taxes that we send to the federal government, the money transferred to Quebec for health care formerly represented 50% of the funding for that sector in the 1970s. We cannot say it enough. Despite being increased a few times, like when the Bloc Québécois obtained a $3.3‑billion increase in transfers in 2007, Ottawa's share of the cost of health keeps going down. Today, the transfers represent only 22% of health spending.
Just before the election in 2011, the Bloc convinced Ottawa to catch up and to keep increasing the transfers by 6% over five years. Unfortunately, the Conservatives decided that starting in 2016, the transfers would stop keeping pace with the increasing costs and capped them at 3%. However, health care costs have been increasing by roughly 5% a year, due in part to population aging. In Quebec, where the population is aging faster than the Canadian average, we are being hit hard. That is what we call the fiscal imbalance. We are paying nearly half our taxes to Ottawa, but most of the public services are being provided by Quebec or the Canadian provinces, while the federal government does whatever it wants.
At the end of the day, Ottawa is undermining Quebec's finances, and Quebec taxpayers are paying the price and receiving fewer and fewer services. According to a study by the Conference Board of Canada, with the current transfer method, in 20 years, the federal government should rake in a $110‑billion surplus, based on this calculation method, but the provinces will run a combined deficit of $172 billion. That is how the federal government can afford to interfere in the jurisdictions of Quebec and the provinces.
If the trend continues, federal health transfers will drop from 22% of health care expenses to 18% within a few years. It is no wonder that Quebec and the Canadian provinces are calling for the federal government to increase health transfers to cover 35% of health care spending, which would be more than $6.5 billion for Quebec. The government's position of putting off discussing the funding issue until after the pandemic is completely out of touch with reality.
I have been a member of Parliament for the Bloc Québécois since 2016. The one thing that struck me when I came to the House of Commons was that the Canadian government is always quick to interfere in areas under the jurisdiction of Quebec and the Canadian provinces, but it does not step up when it needs to take care of its own business, in its own jurisdiction.
The federal government must not continue to use these payments as an excuse to increase its funding and interference in areas under provincial jurisdiction and put off discussing health transfers. The Bloc Québécois will continue to make the point that increased health transfers are a necessary part of getting us through this pandemic, and it will be even more difficult to rebuild and stabilize our health care systems.
The needs are urgent in my riding of La Pointe-de-l'Île. The proportion of people aged 65 and over is higher than in the rest of Montreal. Life expectancy is lower than the average. Approximately two in three people aged 65 and older in La Pointe-de-l'Île have at least one chronic illness. Lung diseases and respiratory illnesses are more common in La Pointe-de-l'Île. Quebec's health care challenges are not strictly a management issue. The refusal by the Liberals and the other federal parties to increase health transfers to 35% is a prime example of predatory federalism.
Quebec is the one providing health care services, and we are in the middle of a pandemic. Quebec pays close to half our taxes to Ottawa, yet provides the lion's share of the services.
The Bloc Québécois succeeded in passing a motion to increase health transfers even though the Liberals voted against it. We know more money will not fix everything overnight, but without higher health transfers on an ongoing basis, we cannot start building the health system we want. That includes services available to everyone when they need them, good working conditions for nurses so we can retain them, training to hire more nurses and doctors, and support services for people dealing with addictions.
We cannot make these decisions and achieve this vision unless the federal government agrees to give back the money it takes from our taxes to fund the health care system. Health transfers must be restored urgently so we can breathe life back into our system.
I would also like to emphasize a key point here. While it is up to Quebec to choose the specific health services it wants to provide, respect for jurisdiction is quite simply an essential condition for respecting democracy. There are provincial jurisdictions and federal jurisdictions. If that is not respected, when people vote for a government in Quebec, that means they are voting for any old thing because we do not have the power to fulfill our commitments.
Quebeckers need to be given the right to determine their specific preferences with regard to health. The Bloc Québécois is against the federal government's centralist tendency. Ottawa is using the pandemic as an excuse to interfere in all sorts of domains, including long-term care institutions, mental health services and pharmacare. These elements are provincial responsibilities. Since Quebec and the provinces know what their people need, they should be the ones to determine how this money is allocated.
As we have pointed out, the government is completely isolated on this issue. My colleague said so earlier. All the opposition parties are calling for an increase in health transfers. All the provinces are calling for an increase in health transfers. All the premiers of the provinces and Quebec are calling on the federal government to increase health transfers. A 2020 survey found that 81% of Quebeckers want the federal government to increase its health transfers. That should be clear enough, but it is never clear enough.
We ask questions all the time and remind the Liberal members of this, and we are told again and again that funding has increased during the pandemic and so on. An increase in health funding during a pandemic is not a recurring increase. If health transfers are not increased, the federal share of health care spending will steadily decline, and our health care systems will be under enormous pressure. The provinces cannot make cuts to hospitals. We are asking once again, and we will continue asking, that the federal government increase health transfers. It is urgent.
1207 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, equality is exactly what we are asking for.
When we talk about increasing health transfers to 35%, it is not only Quebec asking for this, but all the provinces.
This is not something that only Quebec is asking for, as I just said. This really illustrates the problem we have with the federal system. We have a government that constantly centralizes power and makes decisions that interfere with the decisions made by Quebec and the provinces.
78 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois has said it before, and we will say it again: Quebec leads the way on prescription drug insurance.
We are not opposed to the idea of Canada as a whole taking our lead and doing likewise. However, we do not want Quebec to be penalized because we are ahead of the curve.
We agree with my colleague's proposal, as long as there is a clause that lets Quebec opt out with full compensation so we can continue to improve our own system.
92 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, I would say that we in the Bloc Québécois love Quebec enough to hope that it manages to get by after all these decisions, which basically make us less effective in our government administration.
There is only one truly sustainable solution that would free us from being at the mercy of the federal government's health transfer cuts, and that is Quebec independence. That is what I want. I am convinced it will come to this, because we have no choice, especially given that, if we want to continue to exist and develop as a people, we must have full control over our finances, our economy, our language and our culture.
In the meantime, the Bloc Québécois is the only federal party that defends and promotes the interests of Quebec as a nation and actively works to promote independence. This is our only way forward.
155 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, I already asked the member this, but I think he told me that the NDP would support health transfers up to 50%, even.
I asked him why he often proposes programs that would infringe on the jurisdictions of Quebec and the provinces.
We are not against pharmacare or dental insurance. However, as these fall under provincial jurisdiction, we want them to be put in place by Quebec and the provinces.
Could he elaborate on that a bit?
79 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, I wanted to hear my colleague's thoughts on vaccination. What does he think about the fact that there are still thousands of people in hospital and a large number of the patients in the ICU are unvaccinated?
40 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, hospitals were already weakened as a result of underfunding and reduced health transfers. No matter what anyone says, the fact that the federal government covered 50% of health care spending in the 1960s and 1970s but only 22% today is what has made hospitals very fragile. Cases have to be triaged, which means that some cancer patients were unable to access care because the hospitals were full.
What does my colleague think about the fact that Quebec and the provinces are calling for health transfers to be increased to 35%? I think this is another crucial measure to help us get through the pandemic.
106 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
