Mr. Speaker, the hon. member mentioned the former minister of health, Monique Bégin. I had the opportunity to be her critic for four years in the House of Commons between 1980 and 1984, a period in which we were leading up to the introduction of the Canada Health Act.
The Canada Health Act is fresh in my mind because I just finished reading a copy of the Hill Times in which the headline stated that the Canada Health Act was 35 years old, although the article was a little more accurate. The Canada Health Act was only introduced in 1984. Prior to that, we had other legislation with other names. The purpose of the Canada Health Act was to discourage extra billing by physicians and user fees. The Canada Health Act incorporated all the previous legislation into this one piece of legislation.
I welcome the mention of Monique Bégin because it seems to me that she was the last minister of health we have ever had in the country who did something to actually protect medicare. Subsequent ministers of health have, for one reason or another, presided over the dismantling of our health care system, generally through the introduction of unilateral cutbacks.
As the hon. member mentioned, we now see two threats. I am sure that if she had more time she would have mentioned a third threat, which is that health services may be put on the table at the upcoming round of negotiations at the WTO.
I am sure I have said enough for the hon. member to comment more on the issue that she is so concerned about and on which she does such a good job of caring about in the House, the protection of our health care system.