Mr. Speaker, let me say how much I welcome that question. What I fear is that I will not have enough time to deal with the many questions raised. Let me go right to the heart of it.
I noticed the member did not ask the question about what we should have done for poverty. Let me say what they should not have done, and that is ignore it as they did.
Let me go to health care. He raised the question of whether the government should have totally ignored that delivery of health services is provincial, acted unilaterally and shown some leadership on home care and pharmacare programs. I have two responses.
Where were those thoughts when the Liberal Party went all over the country during the last election campaign specifically promising a national program on home care and a national program on pharmacare? The Liberal government acted unilaterally when it did that and it continues to do so.
Tommy Douglas used to say it was a darn shame that we have only put the first two parts of a universal health care system in place: hospital insurance and provision for physician services. We have yet to put the third and perhaps the most important part of the health care system in place. That means expanding what the federal government now includes in its description of universal health care to add to medical services and hospital care a range of other services such as home care and pharmacare that are desperately needed by Canadians.
I do not believe for one minute that any provincial government which cares about its citizens would stand and oppose the federal government showing some leadership and taking some initiative to expand the insurable services under health care. Until we do that we will not have a universal health care system.