Madam Speaker, I agree with some of the things the hon. member said. I certainly agree with the last point about the Reformers and how they want an American style two-tier medical system, which is an absolute disgrace.
However, where I do not agree with the hon. member is that we on the government side have made a commitment to Canadians that we will protect the health care system in Canada because it is an underlying value.
I wonder why the hon. member does not ask her leader, whom I see is in the House, the hon. member for Halifax, why in 1997 she said we should add an additional $1.5 billion. In 1998 she said we should add another $2.8 billion. Excuse me, that is not nearly enough and we on the government side have added a great deal more than that.
In their party platform in 1997, the NDP members argued that there should be $79 billion additional spent in Canada. How much of that was earmarked for health? It was 10%. Now we hear from the hon. member opposite all these nice words. My question to her is simple. Why does she not put aside this petty politic stuff, and do like the Canadian Medical Association and others have said, and get all the people together to work on long term solutions?