Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question from the member for Palliser. I am glad I have been able to entertain him with my moving arms and energetic involvement in this debate. I hope it has not been too distracting.
The member has identified a key issue in this debate. Roy Romanow's recommendations were based on 15 months of consultations with Canadians who expressed their views and values directly to him. For the first time we have a complete reading of the opinions of Canadians without the obstacles posed by corporate elites or political leaders who are fundamentally opposed to the notion of the universal health care system in the first place. We have for the first time a wonderful reading of Canadians that should guide us every step of the way.
The problem that the Alliance has is that the values of Canadians, as reflected through the Romanow report, are not the Alliance's values and the members know that they are in a minority, not reflective of what Canadians want. They must come to grips with that because Canadians want a universally accessible health care system. They know that who owns the delivery of health care does matter because in the long run, it may lead to a non-system. It could lead to a patchwork of health care systems across the country where many would fall through the cracks.
What the government needs to do is take this valuable set of recommendations, come up with a blueprint and put it forward to the provinces. The government ought to be doing something along those lines tomorrow. It ought to be saying to the provincial health ministers that it supports the broad parameters of Roy Romanow. It should state that it believes that it can act on these areas immediately and that it will work together to flesh out the rest of the blueprint. That is the way to begin this process, break the log-jam and ensure that we do not lose this moment and do not lose medicare.