Madam Speaker, I wanted to put some propositions to the member about the big squeeze the federal government made in the reduction of transfer payments concerning the health care envelope.
Was it in the parental mode saying that it knew best, implying that Canadians were getting too much health care, that the provinces were actually wasteful and that the federal bureaucrats in Ottawa knew how to run local hospitals in a much better way? Was it implying that there was a lot of slack and excess in the system because of what the federal government gave? Is it asking now for a more dynamic system, yet saying it is not money?
How are the five principles of the Canada Health Act going to be enhanced and maintained unless we are prepared to give the provinces the wiggle room? The federal government cannot have it both ways saying that it is going to cast things in cement but it is not going to give them much more money and it is not going to give the provinces who have the constitutional jurisdiction to deal with health care any wiggle room either.