Mr. Speaker, in the budget produced last February we stated unequivocally that the principles of the Canada Health Act were there to stay. They were conceived by a Liberal government, they are part of this country's greatest heritage and we will defend them to the hilt.
Subsequently the Prime Minister, the Minister of Health and myself all stated that as part of the negotiations of the CHST we are going to ultimately stabilize cash at a level that will enable us to protect the health care system for as long as Canada is here.