Mr. Blaney, you're absolutely right, and the Montfort Hospital may be the best example of that.
Montfort was a small university hospital. At the time, when Mike Harris's Conservative government decided essentially to close the hospital, there was tremendous mobilization. Now, in 2018, we have one of the best university hospitals in the world, it has doubled in size, and it now has all kinds of specialists it didn't have at the time. It has a lot more short term care beds, and it has also become a research centre, which is phenomenal. I am sure none of that would have happened and the Montfort Hospital would have carried on the same as it was before if Mike Harris's Conservative government hadn't attacked it. In retrospect, it proves once again that when we are under attack, we emerge even stronger.
The current situation presents a somewhat different challenge, however, because the community was not expecting this kind of attack. The ruling in Montfort was so clear that it is obvious the government should never have sent this kind of message. The community fought in the past, for sure, but it did so only when it had to. Also, there has been no other big battle since the Montfort Hospital. The current situation is the first attack in a long time. What I think we need to do is get back out there and hit hard to ensure that this threat does not spread to other provinces.
We are a minority, and that means we need protection. We have learned from the past that, ultimately, we must look to the courts for protection, especially the Supreme Court of Canada, whose mandate is to protect minorities. However, until such time as our rights are affirmed, our minority might suffer serious harm. We have to prevent that harm and do everything in our power now to preserve our institutions without resorting to the courts.