Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to participate in the debate but somewhat disappointed given that my first speech in the House in 1997 was with respect to the deplorable health care system from which the constituents of Bras d'Or—Cape Breton were suffering. Here we find ourselves three years later and the only change has been that the health care system has become progressively worse and we are very close to a two tier private health care system.
The Canada Health Act is under attack and the government continues to do nothing. A recent poll showed that nine out of 10 Canadians clearly stated that they believed there should be equal access to medical treatment for everyone regardless of income. What else does private for profit health care do but prevent equal access? This is the essence of the motion we are debating today.
One reason the government has had to backtrack and sidestep Alberta's bill 11 is that the Canada Health Act is not clear. The Canada Health Act needs its own clarity bill and the motion begins the process of ensuring that the government is accountable for what it says.
We hear members of the government talk about health care. They continue to talk about the cost of maintaining a public health care system. I do not think there is anyone, certainly not in the New Democratic Party, who would dispute that public health care is costly. However, as we have heard from my hon. colleague from Kamloops, we just found out this morning that the government has $11 billion more than it had projected. It is not about not having money. The reality is that Canadians have paid for the services and the government is denying them the money to allow for those services.
We are here because the government is still not providing the leadership Canadians want. For months the government waited and waited and continued to tell those of us in the House and Canadians that it would intervene if the health act were violated.
When I talk about health care I cannot help but worry and concern myself about the importance of health care to women. It is not that men do not use the health care system, but it is certainly true that women tend to be greater users of health care services because we live longer and are unfortunately more often in poorer economic circumstances than men. The effect a privatized for profit health care system would have on women also concerns me. Profit means that people will have to pay for services rendered. The percentage of women who live in poverty in Canada is 18.2%. How will they be able to pay for private services? Will they be able to access the same quality of health care that their richer neighbours have access to? I think not.
We have a poverty rate of 25% in my regional municipality. The child poverty rate, I am ashamed to say, is quite a bit higher than 25%.
Eighty-eight percent of Canadians recently polled think it is very important that everybody be able to access the same level of health care no matter what their income. Canadians do not want a two tier system. Why does the government continue to stand by the tiresome excuse that bill 11 does not violate the Canada Health Act?
We are all aware of the link between poverty and access to quality health care. This is only one of the concerns Canadian women have about these possible changes to our health care system. Women will bear the brunt of a privatized for profit, two tier health care system.
Women already fill in where the government has failed to provide the assistance to its citizens that they expect. More and more women are adding the burden of caring for elderly relatives as the system becomes overburdened because of all the cuts to funding. This will not change if bill 11 becomes law and sets the precedent for private for profit health care in Canada. In fact, the burden will probably increase even more. Women already perform two-thirds of the unpaid work in Canada. How much more are Canadian women expected to do?
The government changed the Canada Health Act in 1996. Why not change it again now? Why not make sure that there are more incentives to provide accessible, quality health care than incentives to make a profit? Why has the government not increased transfer payments and earmarked them specifically for health care services to make sure that there is no market or room for foreign companies to come in and begin competing with the health care system that the overwhelming majority of Canadians want us to maintain?
The reason is because the government continues to be influenced by a powerful lobby group that would love to see for profit health care that they could benefit from.
In 1995 the Prime Minister sent a clear message to the provinces that they were basically on their own in their provision of health care because of the steady cutbacks to cash transfers over the years.
When health transfers were folded into the CHST, this government had to make changes to the act. First it had to get rid of the then health minister who wanted to stop the cuts in funding and ensure that the federal government played a leadership role in the enforcement of the Canada Health Act. The government made sure it appointed a successor by the name of David Dingwall who made nine major changes to the Canada Health Act which paved the way for the existence of bill 11.
The NDP is not standing here today saying that there is no work to be done in our health care system. I, as a health care worker, know that changes need to be made within the system. What we are here to tell the Minister of Health and the government is that we are all sick and tired of hearing the government say that we should just sit and wait.
Canadians do not want the government to wait. The government's excuses are wearing pretty thin these days as we see its inability or unwillingness to jump in and show the leadership necessary to protect the Canada Health Act.
Canadians want the Liberals to act now. They do not want the government to pass off the responsibility to the provinces. Canadians are sick of this juvenile game of tug of war.
Nobody should ever make the mistake of thinking that the Canada Health Act is or should be a finished document. It should be open to debate and open to change. Canadians are telling us that there are some basic principles that, in their opinion, are not open to change. Highest on their list is accessibility regardless of income.
The government should act now. It should change the Canada Health Act and do what Canadians want it to do. The government should make sure that bill 11 is stopped and that no other province tries to introduce legislation that so clearly violates the principles, the morals and the ethics behind what Canadians believe their health care system should be.
I urge all my colleagues in the House to support this motion which sends the clear message that private for profit health care is not the kind of health care Canadians want and it is not the kind of health care that we are going to give them.