Yes. It is for this reason that the Reform members of Parliament believe the only viable solution to safeguard our health care system from a fiscal crisis is to redefine the Canada Health Act. It should allow the provinces to find solutions that make the most sense for their region, through exercise of their constitutional jurisdiction over health care. The role of the federal government should be to provide financial support and equalization through the taxation and transfer system and to ensure that no Canadian is denied health care for financial reasons.
The Reform Party advocates amending the health care act to restore to the province the administrative jurisdiction the federal government has expropriated through the use of its spending powers. In other words, we will leave it in the hands of the provinces where it belongs.
What worked yesterday does not necessarily work today. What was taboo in the past is possibly accepted today. This applies to the federal transfer payment system which, after having its successes, is now coming up against its failures. Few people would dispute that to rectify the inefficient allocation of resources it is urgent that we put our public finances on a more solid footing to create an economic environment that will contribute more to efficiency and growth. However, the way to achieve this may not be compatible with certain political, social or provincial expectations.
As just stated, the federal government would seem to be feeling more and more trapped by its policy of imposing national standards and its desire to reconsider the refinancing of transfer payments.
We must continually remind ourselves it is the provinces and not the federal government that have the constitutional jurisdiction to operate the health care system. It is the provinces and not the federal government that provide the bulk of health care funding. It is the provinces and not the federal government that have the greatest expertise in health care delivery.
We on the Reform side of the House have to move ourselves away from the corner and into the forefront of health care policy issues. The way to do this is to focus the federal government's role on making no strings attached transfer payments to bring adequate health care within the financial reach of all provinces and citizens.
The provinces in consultation with patients, health care workers and taxpayers should be left to explore new options for greater health care efficiency without fear of being penalized by Ottawa.
We ultimately should be transferring additional tax points based on the notion that each province will clearly define what its core level of basic services will be. This list can ultimately and should differ from province to province. This would be our version of national standards to which the federal government could rate the provinces on their record against their core level of services.
Not only would we like to have a clearly defined level of basic core services but would also expect the provinces to shift more toward a community based development philosophy of delivering health care. This process and approach is to work with a community to address unmet needs and issues of concern to that specific community. It is based on the principle that the community affected by an issue is in the best position to articulate its needs and desires and to devise appropriate strategies to address these needs.
The core services and community based development approach, linked with the no strings attached tax point transfer, would ensure accessibility for everyone in a cost effective and efficient manner. This accessibility will ultimately be redefined to recognize that long waiting lists for essential services are a denial of access.