If I have any time remaining, Mr. Chairman, I would like to know what is meant by “Include strong principles [...]”. Do you mean the federal government would impose standards? Once again, I would remind you that we have a Canada Health Act and that it did not prevent the federal government, back in the 1990s, from deciding unilaterally to no longer fund health care; at this time, the federal contribution is not even 25 per cent, which is what was proposed by Romanow. So, if you're talking about strong principles, we would need to ensure that the federal government will be providing funding, and that there will be no disengagement on its part once we have decided on a program.
I would just cite the example of the daycare program. Two years later, the federal government withdrew entirely from the program. Imagine if it had done that five, six or seven years after the program had been put in place: daycares would already have been built, staff would already have been hired and children would have been using these facilities when the government decided to wash its hands of the whole affair.
So, I think you really need to ensure that those strong principles include responsibilities on the part of the federal government.