Mr. Speaker, someone much wiser than I once said “where there is no vision, the people perish”. That is exactly what we have happening in the country today. There is no visionary leadership coming from the government, especially in the huge matter of health care, and people are literally perishing.
As long as there are 188,000 sick and dying people on waiting lists, as long as wards are being closed, as long as 1,400 plus doctors are moving to the States and as long as nurses are being laid off, people will continue to suffer.
There have been $7 billion in cuts to the provinces. The Liberals cannot blame the provinces. They cannot blame any other party. They must accept the blame. They gutted health care to preserve their precious spending spree.
Now the government tells us that it has a $10 billion budget surplus. Next year is not the time to put this money back into health care. Canadians need that money now. They have been waiting for five years. In that time how many people have perished because of inadequate health care?