Madam Speaker, the member used a lot of general terms, such as provide leadership.
The member will know that when the government was elected in 1993 one of its platforms was the creation of the national forum on health. During the national forum on health study the best health care experts in the country worked for two years consulting with Canadians. One of the findings in the report issued at the end of 1996 was that money was not the problem. There was enough money in the system. It was how wisely were we spending it.
The member also said that we should provide leadership and work with the provinces. That is exactly what the Minister of Health has done. There have been consultations already with the provinces. There is a meeting tomorrow. In September the first ministers will be meeting to finalize the discussions and negotiations on health care between the federal and provincial governments.
What is the Conservative approach? It is not a matter of money, even though our funding has increased to $30 billion this year compared to $28 billion back in 1993. What does the member's party propose? In one of the reports on poverty the member's party said to increase the transfers under CHST but only if the provinces matched that money. In other words, let us only give it to those provinces who can afford to match some federal funding.
Obviously it is just another case of a two tier system: improvements for provinces that have money and no improvements for those who do not. How does the member square his policy with the need for leadership?