Albertans are gracious individuals and they have felt that being part of Canada has had its costs, but they also feel the benefits have outweighed these costs. I agree with that attitude, yet I also find that many Albertans are rethinking this attitude of generosity.
Another area that has become extremely contentious, particularly in Alberta and B.C. is the established programs funding. This funding is an arrangement between the federal government and the provinces relating to the funding of post-secondary education and health care. I will try to limit my comments solely to health care due to time limitations.
First, the Reform Party has no intention of dismantling medicare, nor do we want to create some form of a U.S. style
two-tier health care system. Instead, the Reform Party argues that our health care system is already gravely ill as its costs are going out of control in relation to the funding available.
Our intention is to ensure the long term viability of health care in this country. Health care is an issue which lies at the heart of most Canadians. It is Reform policy to ensure that no Canadian is denied adequate health care services for financial reasons, regardless of where they live in Canada.
Currently, provincial governments possess the legal and constitutional responsibility to provide health insurance and services. They do not however, possess the authority to take the administrative steps to control medical costs and/or raise additional revenue for health care services. Reformers believe that this arrangement puts both the federal and provincial governments at odds with each other, rather than allowing them to get on with the job of providing improved quality health care to all Canadians.
In fact, the Canadian Medical Association has argued that the country's health insurance system will be colliding with the economic reality in which it, the health care system, cannot be maintained in its present form. I believe this collision has already begun. This is apparent if we look at the federal budgets throughout the 1990s.
We have seen virtually a non-stop series of cuts and freezes in the federal government's transfers to the provinces. This has pushed the federal government into a corner. It realizes that it is risking losing control over national standards in health care should the cash transfers to any province cease entirely.
This problem is further troubled by the fact that federal provincial relations regarding transfers has been marked by decisions which have nothing to do with the search for balance or fairness in the use of our resources. I refer here to the national energy program and the recent gas tax that hit Alberta harder than any other province.