Madam Speaker, the member for Kitchener Centre will know that although I am from Winnipeg, I am fairly familiar with the Kitchener area. I was born and raised in a small village near Kitchener called Winterbourne, and I check in fairly regularly with my parents, Harry and Klazina Wasylycia.
I hope the member will agree with me when I say that my sense from that community is that the number one concern for all citizens in the area is health care. They are reeling from a double whammy, the effects of both cutbacks and regressive measures by the Harris Conservatives in Ontario and the cutbacks of the federal Liberals.
How does the member intend to deal with those concerns in that area? In particular how does she feel about any of this new federal money going to Premier Harris? He has opened up the whole home care program in that province to competitive bidding. This means that companies like Olsten, large American based profit making companies, are winning contracts to provide services at low cost while longstanding non-profit organizations like the Victorian Order of Nurses are fearing for their survival. It is really the patients who are at risk and people who need home care who are suffering because of this whole policy.
How does the member feel about money going to for-profit health care instead of non-profit delivery of home care?