Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you for coming here.
I am probably going to continue talking about something we talked about a lot this morning, but about which there is really very little I could tell a constituent who asked me about wait times. The work that has been done is unquestionably considerable and respectable. It shows that we are living in a wealthy country, we have to acknowledge that, and that health care is a matter of concern. As well, like other wealthy countries, particularly the European countries, and not entirely like our neighbours to the south, we are concerned that all Canadians be equal when it comes to illness and that they be able to benefit from scientific developments. So this can be a very positive thing. Generally speaking, the public recognizes that we have a good health care system, that when we enter the health care system we are well cared for, with empathy and with all the technical and scientific quality that can be provided today.
The objective of everyone being equal when it comes to illness means that many people have to deal with lengthy delays. This is the main subject about which we hear criticism from the public. The government was aware of this. All the politicians were aware of it, when they wrote the 10-year plan. If I remember correctly, they allocated $5 billion dollars to this in the plan. My constituents would like to know whether this is producing results.
I have been listening to you since this morning and I don't really know what to tell them to persuade them. I can tell them that we have gone from C to B, to C- or D, and so on. People don't understand things that way. What people do understand, and I realize it can be difficult to find, is what the newspapers often give us. For this surgery, there are so many weeks of wait time. For that disease, there are so many weeks or months of wait time. This morning we learned that it took five years to get a sleep apnea diagnosis.
Could you tell me, framing it in that kind of way, where there has been progress? What progress? What was the wait time when the program started? What is it now? What is the wait time objective? I think it would be a good idea to have an average, if you can give one, but I imagine it depends on the topic. Could you help me here? Could you explain, as you did to the person who spoke before me, what I can look at on the table? How can I simplify it so I can respond to my constituents' main concern?