Mr. Speaker, I certainly acknowledge, as I did in response to my colleague from Hochelaga--Maisonneuve, that the provinces and territories are under pressure in relation to the financing of health care. As I have indicated, so am I in the delivery of that part of the health care system for which I am responsible.
I think that speaks to the importance of the renewal of our health care system. I am not one of those who believes that we necessarily start the discussion around the renewal of health care by demanding more money. We need to determine whether we are receiving value for the dollars that are being spent and whether there are things we can do in our health care system that not only provide better health outcomes but in fact provide us with cost savings.
If we look at one of the specific funds that we put in place, $800 million to help provinces move forward with pilot projects in relation to the renewal of their primary health care delivery systems, this speaks to an acknowledgement of the fact that we need to try new models of delivery, we need to see whether we are getting value for our dollars and we need to see whether there are efficiencies that can come from a refashioning or renewal of our primary health care delivery mechanisms.
Of course we are all under financial pressures. However, before we put more new dollars into our health care system, over and above those already pledged, we need to take a long, hard look at our system, which is what Romanow and others are doing, to determine where the money is being spent, whether we are getting value for that money and how we can move forward in terms of a comprehensive renewal of our system which speaks to its sustainability, not only in the context of affordability but in terms of its long term objectives and its acknowledgement of the fact that health care at the beginning of this century is different than it was even 30 or 40 years ago.