I think if you look at a department with a budget in the order of $20-odd million, the amount spent on administration versus the support to communities was so incredibly high--I think it was the highest of any department that was in the government--and to have such a small department with such a huge regional presence.... With the increases we're giving for a cancer control strategy or for health care, how many women who are on the waiting list for breast cancer surgery, for cervical cancer surgery, for hip and knee replacements.... Their ability to participate in society is being impinged on because we didn't have enough resources for health care. We made a choice to say that rather than having more administration in that department we would put more money into the front-line system for our hospitals, for our doctors, for our nurses, for our long-term-care beds.
On October 17th, 2006. See this statement in context.