I will address Quebec in a moment, if the member would give me an opportunity to respond. It took several months. The health minister of the day gave several months for Alberta to change the situation so that Canadians could get health care not because they had money but because they were sick.
With regard to the Quebec situation, the rules guiding the provinces from the federal level are contained in the Canada Health Act. The five principles of the Canada Health Act are portability, accessibility, universality, comprehensiveness and publicly funded. The government, through the Canada health and social transfer, transfers the moneys. If there are problems there the rules are in place to deal with them and the provinces will surely have to comply with the spirit and in fact the law of the Canada Health Act.
With regard to waiting lists, that is a provincial jurisdiction. I do, however, understand that people have to wait. I spent nine years on the board of the Mississauga hospital and five years as treasurer. I know that the tremendous shift to an ambulatory philosophy toward providing health care has made sure that hospitals even when they downsize actually are serving more patients than they used to more efficiently. They are more cost effective.
There are certain things they cannot do on demand. Any business has to respond to fiscal realities. I do not think that in this case the member has convinced me that his constituent is not getting appropriate health care.