Madam Speaker, I listened with interest to the comments of the member for Waterloo—Wellington. There appeared to be a different person giving that speech from the person we have come to know as chair of the Standing Committee on Health.
Let me quote a few things from the member's speech. He said that we should be looking at health care, that people are looking for leadership in health care and justifiably so, and that it is at the core of what every Canadian believes is important. He said that we should be re-doubling our efforts, that we should make it happen, that we should make it work and that we should put in place a long term health strategy.
That is incredulous. This very member, the member for Waterloo—Wellington, who was chair of the Standing Committee on Health, refused time after time after time to consider a request from all parties to study the situation of medicare in Canada.
For three years now, the NDP has asked the government to commission a study, as quickly as possible, to look at the crisis in medicare, to look at some of the challenges in medicare and to look at some of the solutions. This so-called member for Waterloo—Wellington has on every occasion denied, blocked, shut the committee down and censored it.
The Saskatchewan NDP, led by Premier Romanow, also tried to help us get a commission. After two years he gave up and commissioned his own study. This morning he announced that Saskatchewan was taking the lead in defining a new vision of medicare to meet the challenges of the 21st century. He is not waiting for the Liberals to do something about health care because they are the ones who have butchered it.
Mr. Romanow also believes that medicare faces many challenges, including new medical treatments, rising costs, an aging population and shortage of key health professionals. The commission the premier struck today will identify those key challenges. Secondly, it will recommend an action plan for the sustainable delivery of health services across the province. Finally, the Saskatchewan commission will identify longer term opportunities for reform that will ensure a strong future for a publicly funded and administered medicare system.
This is my question for the member for Waterloo—Wellington. He talked about all of these things, which he was in a position to do something about for the last two years. Why has the member not undertaken to do what he thinks has to be done? He got up and gave his little speech, which was not worth two cents or the paper it was written on because it did not relate to any of his actions in the past.
Can the member define the comment in his speech that he is going to re-double his efforts?