Mr. Speaker, I would first like to correct the first statement the hon. member made with respect to the two-tier system for MPs versus our staff.
The two tiers do not exist. Medically necessary physician or hospital services are the same. There is no difference. One gets the same hospital and the same doctor. The only difference is there is a TV in the room which one can decline. The hon. member chose the TV but she could have said no. The medical care is not different. There is no difference between the hospital one goes to, the doctor one gets, the services one receives or the nurses who serve us.
I heard today from the hon. member and other colleagues about core medical services and that core services should be identified. I am trying to understand what the difference is between core services and medically necessary services as defined in the Canada Health Act. What is the real difference between core and medically necessary? I think they are one and the same and that we are playing with words here.
I would like the Reform members to define for me what core services are and how it differs from what we now have in the act.
I am very proud to pay my taxes. I do not consider welfare to be charity. I consider welfare to be the right of needy people who have fallen on hard times.