Madam Speaker, congratulations on your appointment.
As I assume my responsibilities as the member for St. Paul's, I want to thank my predecessor, Barry Campbell, for his hard work both in the riding and for his invaluable help as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance. I am also honoured to have his ongoing support and guidance as I enter this exciting new chapter.
I also want to thank his staff, Michael Spowart and Esther Shron for staying with me and providing the seamless transition for the people of St. Paul's with their ongoing care and experience.
The people of St. Paul's are big picture people. They are knowledgeable, passionate and have high expectations of their member of Parliament. Mitchell Sharp, John Roberts and Barry Campbell have set a high standard that I hope to be able to live up to.
Throughout the election campaign, it was clear to me that the people of St. Paul's respected the Liberal record of fiscal responsibility. Now they solidly support the priorities of this government as set forth in the Speech from the Throne. As it says in the Speech from the Throne, this government has regained the ability to address the priorities of Canadians while living within its means.
We have been elected to continue our prudent fiscal management, but make sure that we are able to be compassionate and look after those less fortunate. The people of Canada elected a Liberal government with a real plan: first eliminate the deficit, then divide the surplus between reinvesting in programs and a combination of tax relief and debt reduction, a balanced approach.
The people of Ontario strongly rejected the tax cuts and survival of the fittest option. We are living every day with the consequences of a provincial government which has no vision nor values; a government that continues to transfer power to unelected officials and ignores public opinion and referenda; a government that does not believe that it can have a positive effect on people's lives and whose sole purpose is to cut taxes; a government that forgets that Canada is a big cold country and as John Ralston Saul has said, a country whose people agreed over 150 years ago that they would have to look after one another. The true vision and values of Canadians are Liberal values.
Throughout the throne speech one finds the word “partnerships”. It is an exciting time when government can be the catalyst that brings together the private, public and third sector to facilitate innovative programs that will have a positive effect in the lives of Canadians. Partnerships require good communication and mutual respect.
I have been surprised and overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and innovation present in our public service and their clear commitment to real partnerships. Yesterday at the Industry Canada open house I was thrilled to see Schoolnet and Strategis as realities, to see the national graduates registry actually putting young Canadians to work on the digital collections and consulting small business. It is quite clear that our young Canadians' real facility with technology will be the true leveller in our society. The CEOs of this country are really learning directly from the recent grads.
I had the opportunity to see first hand last week one of the youth initiatives at HRDC. Their award winning newspaper Canada Prospects is really talking to high school students in language they can relate to and it is working. I was privileged to represent the minister at the launch of HRDC's new program, career in a box, creating a partnership between the federal government, the packaging industry and the CEC union. Hopefully this example of partnership will provide a template for which other sectors can soon follow.
Initiatives such as getting the volunteer sector on line is another true example of partnership and a commitment to make sure that Canadians are looked after but government does not have to deliver every service. Organizations like ACTEW and Skills for Change in my riding embody the vision and values and have the expertise to help realize the potential of those highly motivated Canadians who would truly rather be working.
As a family physician, my patients and now my constituents have made me acutely aware that they are increasingly concerned that the health care they need may not be there when they need it. In Ontario the present restructuring is putting at risk the high quality care that Canadians wear as a badge of honour.
I support the establishment of the health transition fund that will help provincial governments innovate in the areas of primary care and provide more integration in the delivery of health services and innovative home care and pharmacare. By finally moving forward with health care reform we can hopefully begin to ameliorate the damage done by the closing of hospitals and old-fashioned mergers before resources have been properly placed into community care. By improving the health information system, we will finally be able to track outcomes and ensure the kind of accountability that is required in order to support what up until now has only been supported anecdotally.
Throughout North America, health institutions are sharing services, saving dollars and proving that restructuring can be done without destroying institutions like Women's College Hospital and eroding public confidence in the system. In my former role as host of Doctor On Call on WTN, I was shocked at the disparity of health care across the country. It is only with the facts that we will finally be able to address the inequities.
The tenets of the Canada Health Act presumed high quality care. Accessibility to bargain basement standards is not what was intended nor what Canadians expect. These new initiatives will ensure increased accountability and real measurements of quality such that we can restore the confidence of Canadians in their health care system. We can no longer tolerate benchmarks that are not based on quality.
In Ontario sending people home from hospital quicker and sicker is what seems to be rewarded. We know the data is flawed and we know that readmission rates are not being tracked and that the women of this country are being left to pick up the pieces when patients are sent home too sick to look after themselves. We need to measure the absenteeism of those working women and the real cost to our country. Some companies are already convinced that partnerships in home care for their employees is just plain good business.
Health care delivery may be a provincial responsibility but there is no question in my mind that all Canadians hold us, the federal government, responsible for the existence and the quality of our health care system.
For me the sustainability of the health care system is reliant upon the recognition of all the determinants of health: jobs and poverty, violence and crime prevention, the environment. The priorities set out on Tuesday of investing in children, building safer communities, creating opportunities for young Canadians, are all part of our goal of keeping Canadians healthy. It is really about decreasing the demand so that we can guarantee adequate supply.
Throughout the summer my constituents have already been reassured by the efforts of the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs to bring frankness and clarity to any debate that could put in jeopardy the future of this country. They too believe that our future as a country is too precious for us to risk losing it through misunderstanding. The issue of national unity continues to be of paramount importance to the residents of St. Paul's.
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank you and your office personally for the excellent opportunity that your office provided at the centre d'immersion at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. It helped me become a little more comfortable in our other official language. I also felt that the exposure to Madam Gervais and her staff with their frank conversations helped me to better understand the point of view that will be important to the future of a united Canada. This experience and exposure has been invaluable to me as a member of Parliament and has allowed me already to help explain to the people of St. Paul's the need for even greater understanding.
I recommend that all Canadians take any opportunity they can to visit Quebec. I hope this sort of exchange among all provinces will become a focus for some of our millennium celebrations. As we move toward the millennium I feel extremely proud to be a Canadian.
Last week I had the opportunity to speak to the Canadian Publishers Association which was entertaining a delegation of 20 Japanese publishers. I was asked to help them differentiate between Canadians and Americans. I focused on two things, both highlighted in the Speech from the Throne: our commitment to look after one another and our respect for multiculturalism.
American author John Irving who with his Canadian wife has an apartment in St. Paul's, pointed out that it is the expectation of the Canadian social system to look after the people who cannot look after themselves. There is no such expectation in the United States. That is another reason to protect our culture and to celebrate the stories of Canadians and by Canadians. We can remember that in Fifth Business Dunstan Ramsay looked after Boy Staunton. There is also the wonderful Canadian nurse who looked after the English patient. We are different.
I am so proud to be married to Peter O'Brian who with his films such as Grey Fox and My American Cousin continues to find and produce films that tell our stories.
Our respect for diversity also makes us different. I suggest that perhaps the publishing industry has demonstrated such success because of its recognition of the tremendous talent of our Canadians with roots around the world: Ondaatje, Ricci, Bissoondath, Kogawa.
As we move into this exciting new chapter, I am honoured to be part of a government that has accepted the challenge“to ensure that no Canadian is left behind as the country moves forward”.
I thank my husband and my sons for making my decision such an easy one and I thank my parents for their commitment of hard work and commitment to the customer.
Being a member of Parliament is truly the greatest privilege and responsibility. Politics and the opportunity to be part of a good government that can make a real difference in people's lives is indeed the highest calling. I promise that I will do everything in my power to continue to earn the trust the people of St. Paul's have placed in me.
