Madam Speaker, I am very happy that my party has put forward the motion which calls for $1.5 billion to be put back into the CHST. Let us not forget that this is not only for health care but is for education and welfare transfers too, in particular education and health care. We have been fighting for this for such a long time while the government has been gutting the two principal social programs that Canadians rely upon.
We are not asking for new money. We are asking for money to be taken away from grants and loans that the government gives to organizations through HRD. We, and in particular the member for Calgary—Nose Hill, have demonstrated very clearly that the money has been wasted. That is only the tip of the iceberg.
Let me show what the government is also doing. The amount at HRD was $1 billion, but let us look at the Export Development Corporation where the government has $22 billion of taxpayers' money in outstanding loans of which $2.8 billion has already been declared deadbeat. The government gave $2.8 billion of taxpayers' money to corporations. For example, it was given to despotic rulers where there is no accountability and for environmentally appalling and stupid programs that have no measure of success.
The government has given away $2.8 billion of taxpayers' money through the Export Development Corporation. Who runs the Export Development Corporation? Pat Lavelle, who has been a friend of the Prime Minister for 40 years.
That is what we have a real problem with. We put the motion forward to deal with some of the money that is being wasted by the government. We are not asking a lot. We are asking that $1.5 billion out of the $2.8 billion the government has frittered away, given away or the $1 billion from HRD, be put into health care and education. Members across party lines recognize an urgent cash infusion is needed.
The health minister likes to talk about innovation, ideas and improving our health are system. That is all very well but the fact is that those beautiful words are not going to put a single patient into a hospital bed. It is not going to give patients the care they require. They are only words. The health minister on March 17 said in the House:
It is obvious that the status quo, the current situation is unacceptable. One can see the problems that exist everywhere: waiting lists, overcrowded emergency rooms, shortages of doctors and particularly certain specialists, and shortages of nurses.
We all agree that those are part of the problems but none of the words coming out of the health minister's mouth are going to actually solve those problems. That is a real tragedy.
This is not an academic exercise. It is a matter of life and death for all the people who rely on their publicly funded health care system to get the care they require.
That is why we hope the government will support the motion. It will give health care professionals, hospitals and other caregivers the urgent and emergent financial resources today. It will help them care for at least some of the people who are on extended waiting lists, who are suffering today. We hope the government will deal with that.
Part of the issue of solving a problem is to understand what the problem is. Looking into the crystal ball and at the situation today, we see that there are more expensive technologies, an aging population and the supply and demand of resources will widen as time passes. As time passes it will get wider and wider.
The people who will suffer are those who depend on our publicly funded health care system, i.e., the poor and middle class because they do not have an option. The system which they have come to believe is the best health care system in the world unfortunately may not be there for them when they need it. Numerous examples across the country demonstrate that.
Another situation we ought to realize is that if we stand and say we defend the Canada Health Act and say nothing more, then we really are being disingenuous. All five principles of that act, which are good principles, are being violated across the country. How do we make sure that we have a Canada Health Act that ensures accessible and affordable health care in a timely fashion for all people in the country regardless of the amount of money they have?
That in essence is what the Canada Health Act is all about. It was never meant to be all things to all people. The people who put it together recognized very clearly that it is an unsustainable act in and of itself. That is why the provinces and many medical associations disagreed with it and opposed it when it was put together but it was rammed through by the government of the day. I think they meant well to do it because the principles are good. We would like to ensure that the basis of those principles will be pushed forward.
What do we need to do? We need to recognize that the Canada Health Act is a permissive and inclusive document that involves freedom of choice. That is what it was meant to be and we ought to go back to that rather than ensure it is a punitive measure.
When we talk about funding, one-third of all funds come from private services. We must recognize that today in 2000 there is a two tier system in the country. The people who cannot afford the drugs, the physio or the home care do not get it. Those who cannot afford the dental care which was excluded cannot get it. It is all very important for people's health care.
Let us look at ways in which we can have a sustainable health care act for all people. Some money needs to be put in. We recognize we have a finite pie. That is why this motion came about.
Let us look at building a new Canada Health Act that takes the wonderful principles of the original act and ensures that the affordable, accessible and comprehensive health care system for central services that is portable for all people will be there. That is eminently doable.
Let us ensure that the feds and the provinces sit down and talk. It is a great mistake for the Prime Minister to say to the provinces, “We are not going to talk”. I think the Prime Minister's pollster, Mr. Marzolini made it very clear that the government is vulnerable on the issue of health care. The Prime Minister must call together his Minister of Health and his provincial counterparts to sit together and deal with specific aspects of health care today.
The issue of prevention needs to be discussed. In 1997 the House passed a motion concerning the national headstart program. That program which extends across justice, health care and HRD would be incredibly cost effective for the taxpayer if it were implemented. It would give children the basic necessities required in order to be self-actualized individuals and to become productive members of society. It has been proven to work. The Minister of Labour was a champion of it early on. She has done incredible work. It would save billions of taxpayers' dollars and would improve the health and welfare of Canadians from coast to coast.
We need to talk about how we can develop new ways of funding to ensure that private services do not weaken the public system but rather strengthen it. It is a reality today. Let us make sure that we do not have an American style health care system.
One of the problems in the debate today is that people are saying that if it is not the Canada Health Act, then it must be an American style health care system. It is completely disingenuous to say that the whole debate on health care distils down to what we have today in Canada compared to the American style health care system. That is bunk.
We can build the best health care system in the world by using our own brains, our experience and models that exist around the world.
We talk about a national drug strategy. What we are doing now does not work. We need to look at models in northern Europe and innovative models in other parts of the world that have brought together work treatments. They ensure that drug abusers are off the streets and become employable members of society so that their drug problems, their medical problems, can be treated.
Lastly is the issue of medical manpower. This country has a shortage of over 500 doctors a year. We are going to hit a brick wall in the near future. We will not have enough physicians. With respect to the nursing situation there will be a lack of 112,000 nurses in the next 12 years.
I ask members on the other side to reflect on this critical situation. A brick wall is on the horizon and we are going to slam right into it if we do not address the situation right away.
In closing I ask members of all political parties to support this motion. It is a fair motion which will put $1.5 billion back into the system for health and education. It will give the provinces some urgent funding for these two critically important programs.
We are not asking for new money. We are asking that it be taken away from areas where the government has demonstrated a misuse of funds. We are asking that it be put into something that the public wants and which would be very helpful to members and people across this great country of ours.