Let me speak. If members are opposed to what I am saying they can get on their feet and debate. But while I am on my feet I expect them to listen, as good children normally do.
In the next few weeks Roy Romanow will take a look at Saskatchewan's health care system. He will have a public review of what we would consider to be the holy of holies if we were members of the NDP, health care, and will define what services are essential.
This is almost parallel to what Mr. Klein is doing in Alberta, the province next door. The difference is that Alberta has taken measures on its own to deal with the shortfall coming from Ottawa in terms of funding. It is looking at privatization.
Saskatchewan will take a slightly different view. It will determine what services are essential. I hope hon. members are listening to this because it is quite important. It is important for members of the NDP because medicare is the holy of holies when it comes to their party. That is great, because we have to have more people in the House defending health care.
Instead of going down the Ralph Klein road in terms of privatization, with the aid of the stroke of a pen the premier of Saskatchewan will actually take procedures off the list of those that today are considered to be essential. Why? To cope with the shortfall in funding which hurts the poor provinces. Mr. Romanow knows that Saskatchewan cannot keep on paying to the degree it has. It has gone beyond its capacity to pay. The point I am attempting to make is simply that the federal government has created the problem.
I am sure Canadians get confused when they hear us debating this issue in the House ad nauseam. They want this sorted out because once we get into the numbers it gets so confusing.
Under the Canada Health Act primary care delivery is the responsibility of the provinces. This is where the equation has gone wrong. Primary care is the responsibility of the provinces and the 50:50 cost share which we originally entered into back in the 1970s has been abandoned. The provinces started out in a situation where the federal government would share the costs. The equation was that the federal government would pay half of all the costs. Now it is down to about 15%, 15 cents on the dollar being taken care of by the federal government.
It is imperative that we get all the players into one room. The federal government poisoned the atmosphere a few years ago when it unilaterally took $17 billion out of the system. We have to get all the players, the premiers, the health ministers, the federal health minister and the Prime Minister along with the health care leaders in the country, in the same room to debate where we are going and to come up with a plan. If there is anything missing in Canada today, it is a national health care plan to let the Canadian people know where we are going.
We do not want to see the Americanization of a system that is capable of being saved. We have a good system. Let us work to preserve it. It is up to the federal government to come up with a plan that will work.