Mr. Speaker, I listened to the hon. member's speech. While he covered a lot of territory, he confused me a bit. The member is a physician and has worked in the system. He is probably aware more than most of us in the House of the daily difficulties faced not only by practitioners such as himself but by those who depend on the system for their health needs.
The member skated around some of the more important fundamental issues. In using that reference, I would like to comment that he is a pretty good hockey player. We on this side appreciated the chance to play against that side last night. He has shown marked improvement from the first time we had the experience a few years ago. I commend him in that regard. But skating around important issues such as health care is another matter.
Like others in the House, I read a fairly thorough report in one of the national papers which reported on the Australian experience with what in no other way could be described as a two tier health system.
The member and his fellow reform-alliance members are in the midst of a leadership race. I cannot claim to know exactly what position on two tier health care each of the candidates has. The member for Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca has made it clear that he supports a two tier system. I would suspect that another candidate, the treasurer of Alberta who is on leave from that position, obviously supports bill 11.
I am not an expert on the health system except for having to visit the doctor from time to time. I wonder if the member could tell us where he stands with regard to a two tier system where those with the resources can have speedier access to certain procedures compared to those who depend on a publicly funded system.