Madam Speaker, first, I wish to congratulate the member for Ottawa--Vanier. I know he has been interested in this issue for years and have no difficulty in acknowledging his sincerity and his staunch convictions.
I have consulted with my colleague from Repentigny, the Bloc Quebecois official languages critic. It is true, as the hon. member for Ottawa--Vanier has said, this is not an easy position to determine. The right to be served in one's own language contributes not only to people's happiness, but is also an inalienable right. It is unbelievable, in a country that claims to be bilingual, that people in crisis situations requiring them to seek health care should be unable to obtain services in the language of their choice.
The problem—and this is where I differ with my colleague from Ottawa--Vanier must accept—is that we do not in fact believe that Canada is a bilingual country, nor do we believe that it can be one. That is the first point on which we differ with the hon. member for Ottawa--Vanier.
The second is that we have never accepted the legitimacy of the Canada Health Act. My colleague invited us to review history and I believe he was right to do so. The health act was enacted in late 1984, when the government of Pierre Elliott Trudeau was in its last days.
This was such a controversial act that it triggered a doctors' strike in Ontario. It is not a common occurrence for physicians, even those paid from the public purse, as they are in most provinces—