Members opposite ask “Why wouldn't you?” Do they not remember what our medicare system is all about and how it stays together? Do they not know that the cash is the glue for medicare, that if we do not have cash on the table then we cannot hold the likes of Klein and Harris accountable and responsible to adhere to the principles of medicare?
Why else will Klein stand any day now to unleash his privatization forces and announce his legislation to contract out hospital services to private companies? Why else are Premier Harris and health minister Witmer saying today that now they have the ammunition? Now they have what it takes to open up the Canada Health Act. As quoted in the Ottawa Sun , “Frankly, the writing is on the wall, and it says this: `Go private”'.
Hon. members opposite have created the climate for those people who want to undo medicare to take hold and take force and shape the country. That should be the argument above all that will make the government wake up and realize that if it does not show a significant commitment to health care in the country, if it is not prepared to start moving toward at least a 25% partnership and eventually back to a 50-50 partnership, we do not have a hope in heck of preserving medicare and stopping those forces of privatization.
I say to hon. members opposite that it is not too late. It is time to act because we are on the precipice. The very future of medicare is at stake. We must act now.