a doctor. The report also called for an increase of up to one percentage point in the Quebec sales tax to help pay for medicare. Castonguay said health care is growing 5.8 per cent a year as a share of the provincial budget, while total government spending increases 3.9 per cent annually. Most of the report was publicly dismissed by the government of the day. Forty years after being one of the pioneers of public health care, Castonguay's commission advocates both an increased role for private enterprise in medicine and increased public investment in the socialized system both through taxes and through user fees. Castonguay was quoted as saying "We are proposing to give a greater role to the private sector so that people can exercise freedom of choice." While concerned about the financial stresses the system places on the government, Castonguay does not advocate dismantling publicly financed health insurance altogether. Death He died on December 12, 2020 at the age of 91. Honours In 1974, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. In 1991, he was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec. In 2014, he was promoted to Grand Officer. He was awarded Honorary Doctor of Laws from Bishop's University, McGill University, the University of Toronto, the University of Manitoba, Laurentian University, Concordia University, the University of Western Ontario and York University. References External links 1929 births 2020 deaths Businesspeople from Quebec Canadian bank presidents Canadian senators from Quebec Canadian university and college chancellors Companions of the Order of Canada French Quebecers Grand Officers of the National Order of Quebec Politicians from Quebec City Progressive Conservative Party of Canada senators Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Université Laval alumni