Mr. Speaker, I believe in talking especially about the aboriginal community because that was the perspective of my speech. We have to look at health care. Is it a top down initiative? Does the doctor have the power to deliver health care to any individual? I do not think so.
The issues of community, families, employment, housing, the location of water supply and the condition of the environment, land and air are at the ground level. That is where the responsibility has to be. The issues of traditional knowledge and scientific knowledge have to be balanced and recognized. The stories of the elders, their knowledge of the land, the evolution of the land and the deterioration of the land and the species, have to be taken into account.
Those decisions must come from the community. We must empower our communities and give them the resources they need to help them create a healthy future for generations to come.