The member asks why I did not. I think I did a pretty good job outlining our proposals in my 20-minute speech.
However, all members of the Alliance have to understand that what is at stake here, first and foremost, is our ability to stand up and preserve medicare.
What I have not heard, and what I am still waiting to hear from that party, is: Does it or does not support the medicare model? Does it support universally accessible, publicly administered health care? Do not give me the line that we do not have it now. We know we do not have totally universal health care system. We know we have two tier health care. We know we have people going to the States for coverage.
The question is: Where does reform stand on where we go in the future? Do we try to deal with those problems? Do we try to convince the federal government to not only put in more money but to show leadership around innovative ways to meet the needs of Canadians, or do we cave in, as the Alliance appears to be doing, to the forces of multinational corporations and the global corporate agenda, and actually say “the market is open, come in and get your share and let whoever goes by the wayside, let it be?”
What it really comes down to is whether or not we want that kind of system. This is the turning point in the history of the country.