Mr. Speaker, I usually start my speeches by saying that I am very happy to get up to participate in the debate, but I would like to begin my speech today by saying that I am downright annoyed. This is the worst time we could have in Parliament; we are given a limitation of time to speak about the things that are the most important to Canadians.
I was asked not long ago what is wrong with Quebec. I said nothing. I was asked if we have a problem with Quebec, whether it wants to leave. We really do not have a Quebec problem; we have an Ottawa problem. That is the essence of the whole debate today. The federal government is intruding on these areas of provincial jurisdiction by our Constitution and by its use of the spending power intruding on our freedoms right across the country in all provinces.
I even admire Quebec for bringing the issue to a head to this degree by saying Ottawa should wake up and listen to the people of Canada. We are being asked today to give formal assent to a budget which perpetuates the problems Ottawa has been imposing on Canadian citizens, taxpayers, for several decades now. It is time for this to be corrected.
Does not the Constitution clearly say health care is a provincial jurisdiction? I believe so. The history of health care shows that originally, undoubtedly with good motives, the federal government felt it should tax all Canadians and then give the money back to the provinces based on their populations. There was a new plan put out.
In the same year I was married Saskatchewan started a provincially funded health care system. At that time doctors in Saskatchewan were striking because they did not want to have government intrusion into the health care system. It started in Saskatchewan. On our marriage my wife and I moved to Alberta. At that time Alberta had its own private insurance which was inexpensive and
very thorough. We had moderate medical costs covered by medical services incorporated. We were very happy.
However, this virus of thinking that only the government can do things well continued to spread across the country until finally Canadians have now come to accept that we want to have government funded health care. Somehow there is a transition. When governments cause something to become legal and required by law, it then gains a certain degree of public acceptance.
Now we have accepted that all of us will pay through taxes, and in places like Alberta through health care premiums, for our health care coverage. We also expect that if we need health care it will be available for us, just like in the old days before the government was involved. Is that happening? No.
More and more we are hearing from our constituents about long waiting lists, certain procedures that are deinsured. The elderly, who certainly have paid taxes and participated in our country all of their lives, surely as contributors to that degree are now entitled to their share of what they have provided for others. They are now being denied even to the point at which there are some people suggesting older people ought to be put away because they are to much of a drain on the health care system. What a shame.
In this bill we find an intrusion by the federal government, thinking it can tax all of us and then limit not only what it is providing for us but also our ability as individuals in our provinces to do what we can with the diminishing resources.
Both those premises are wrong. Both fail the test of common sense. Both fail what Canadians want, an efficient health care system funded publicly but under the control of provinces. They would have better control.
I always say to people in Elk Island and generally in Alberta that whenever they want to favour government funding to think about the fact that probably-I do not have the exact numbers here-for many of these programs we are fortunate if we get back 10 or 20 cents on the dollar of what we send to Ottawa. We would be a lot better off without Ottawa intrusion. We would be a lot better off if Ottawa buts out of this problem. It is not solving the problem, it is the problem.
I strongly endorse the amendments my hon. colleague has promoted in order to fix the flaws in this bill. I am very concerned that in our society we need to meet the needs of those who cannot look after themselves. To a great extent that includes people who are ill. When people are ill or when they become aged usually they are unable to continue working. Many do not have a portfolio of investments to provide income.
I agree with the consensus of Canadians that we are a compassionate society and we will help to meet needs, whether social welfare needs or health care needs.
Certainly we can pull together in meeting the needs of those who are needy. It is an absolutely false assumption that the best way of doing that is to set up two, three and in some cases four levels of bureaucracy in government that eat into our tax dollars and deliver but a portion of that in benefits to citizens needing it.
We need to do this job much better. We need to become efficient. We need to reduce the amount of bureaucracy and control from the federal government. I am not convinced at all that as we decentralize things will get worse, as the Liberals claim. Things will get better because there will be a smaller financial drain on us in total, there will be closer control with more local politicians and more local bureaucrats basically forced to listen to the people. In total we will have a much more efficient system and the needs of people will be met better at less cost. That will also have a positive spin on our total economy.
I could continue to wax eloquent on this for some time because it is an issue that concerns me greatly, one that needs real changes by the government. I will not hold my breath waiting because I know if I hold it too long health care may not be there to help me.