Mr. Speaker, I would like to address a couple of the substantive issues that the leader of the New Democratic Party raised in the debate tonight, which seems to have been lost in the paranoia of the parliamentary secretary and even the Conservatives, about the New Democratic Party engaging in peaceful protest in Quebec City around the FTAA.
Let me focus in on a couple of issues that are critical to the debate at hand in one minute or less. They have to do with the very future of our public health care system.
I think the parliamentary secretary is fully aware of the number of learned articles and academic publications that have pointed directly to the problems that we face in terms of preserving medicare if we proceed down this path of NAFTA, followed by FTAA, followed by GATS, followed by even further liberalization on the trade front.
When we asked the question in the House before, the minister responsible for international trade said that we should not worry. He said that everything was protected and that everything was okay, but he had no specifics. All the academics and all the people who are well versed in this issue suggest otherwise.
What is my caucus leader's understanding of the minister's words in giving those assurances? Furthermore, would she have any idea what the minister means when he said that Canada will protect the margin of manoeuvre of our government?