Mr. Speaker, I listened intently to the leader of the New Democratic Party. I am reminded of listening to Tommy Douglas in the 1960s and 1970s. The speeches do not seem very different to me.
The issue I hear coming across loud and strong is that we should spend more money. Canada is the second highest spender on health care in the western world. We have to recognize that we are spending exceedingly great amounts of money on health care.
I do not deny that the member's argument contains a lot of concern about the delivery of the system. However I wish the member would have taken more time to say how we could deliver health care more effectively to the citizens of Canada within the parameters of our current spending envelope rather than simply writing more cheques.
My constituents are telling me that they do not want governments to spend more money in spite of the consultative process they claim to have gone through. The people of Durham are saying that they do not want governments to spend more money. In fact they want governments to have accountability for the money they are spending. They want more service for the money being spent. The answer is not simply to spend more money.
The member went on to talk about labour productivity. I am very concerned about the issue because labour is hiding behind a deflated and imaginary value of the Canadian dollar. The day the Canadian dollar starts trading anywhere close to 85 cents there will be massive unemployment in the country. The the association between labour productivity and the unemployment insurance system is inescapable.
Does the member have any commitment at all to balanced budgets in the future?