Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for reminding me of that. It is a usual courtesy that when one asks a question to wait around and hear the answer.
I am amazed that the hon. member would prefer the system of our good friends in the United States where there are literally millions of people who have no health care. We have all heard the horror stories of their losing a lifetime of savings, losing their homes as a result of a health problem some time during their lives. I am sure the hon. member was not suggesting that we should look at that type of system for Canada.
The principles that were put in place were put there to protect the health care of all Canadians so that all Canadians would be treated equal.
I would suggest to the hon. member that if his particular situation, to which he referred, was an emergency situation, most hospitals that I have been involved with over the years-and I served on a hospital board for some 15 years-always set aside time both in their outpatients, in their emergency rooms and in their OR for emergency situations. They also schedule those selective procedures that have to be done. Some may be in day surgery, some may be a little more serious and take more time.
The world is not perfect in each and every hospital, but in the particular situation the hon. member describes that certainly his doctor-and I am not being critical of his doctor-should have interceded on his behalf if indeed it were an emergency situation and obtained the OR time or the day surgery time and made sure that it was scheduled. I think there was some responsibility there.
We have the greatest health care system in the world. We see this on a daily basis. However, there is always room for improvement, which is exactly what we are doing. We are trying to work with the provinces to avoid those areas of duplication and to assist in putting together a better program.
The provincial health care ministers are trying to develop a better program that will continue to evolve and improve in order to make it even better than it is today. I suggest that it takes all of the health care practitioners working to improve the program and maintain those principles that have made the health care program in Canada envied throughout the world.