Mr. Speaker, medicare in this country is about more than money. It is about more than cheap politics. It is even about more than health care.
Medicare concerns our self-understanding as a people and as a country. It concerns our identity as a fair, just, compassionate, and pragmatic people. It is an identity that was fashioned by our commitment to shared fundamental values. It is an identity that is cherished by every Canadian.
Medicare recognizes the very best of what we are as Canadians. Without the medicare system we have now, Canadians would lose a very important mirror on themselves. We will not allow that.