Mr. Speaker, Canadians want their publicly funded medicare system reformed and modernized and they want it adequately and consistently funded.
Canada however is a federal state in which health care is delivered at the provincial level and these days it is also funded mainly at the provincial level. This means we need strong federal leadership on this issue, leadership that is willing to work cooperatively with the provinces and the medical community and leadership that is willing to fund a much greater share of the costs in exchange for re-establishing the truly national medicare program that Canadians want.
On health care, Canadians are demanding leadership and cooperation. They will not easily forgive any federal party or leader who turns a national dream into a Kyoto-style federal-provincial dogfight.