Hon. Claude Carignan: Honourable senators, the first ministers’ meeting on health care took place yesterday. Prime Minister Trudeau had announced that he would make a substantial offer to premiers with respect to increasing health transfers in light of current needs. He offered $4.6 billion a year over 10 years. That’s only 16% of what the provinces and territories were asking for. That falls far short of being a substantial offer and is nowhere near the type of funding that would help support health systems and address the issues they’ve been having.

Leader, I understand that in a negotiation some strategists may decide to start off with a low or ridiculous offer, but that is rarely met with success. Don’t you believe that the federal government, by offering 16% of the funding requested, is sending a message to the provinces and territories that 84% of what they requested isn’t needed to maintain and improve health care?

Hon. Leo Housakos: My question is for the government leader in the Senate. Government leader, yesterday, I asked you a question in regard to the Trudeau government’s censorship bill, Bill C-11, and the fact that Minister Rodriguez sent a letter to the chair of the CRTC — a chair he appointed — asking her to make sure she takes into consideration the rights and freedoms of Canadians when implementing Bill C-11. Your response yesterday, government leader, was the following:

. . . it’s the responsible thing for any government to ensure that those who are charged with enforcing the law — once this law does come into force — understand their obligations to respect our fundamental freedoms as guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The question is the following, government leader: Why does Minister Rodriguez have to write a letter to the chair of the CRTC when the bill is still before Parliament and he can write into that bill his exact wishes in black and white, so that regardless of who the chair of the CRTC is, there will be no ambiguity and neither Prime Minister Trudeau nor any other government will have the right to tell Canadians what to watch or post on the internet?