Mr. Speaker, I never once said that health care is a federal jurisdiction. I did say that the federal government has the responsibility to help Canadians. I did say that all Canadians deserve equal health care. I do believe that we have a national Canada Health Act which is a guide for all provinces, for the federal government and for everyone in the country on the kinds of service delivery required.
On top of that, we finance 35% of the cost of health care in the country through the federal government. As a result we do have a voice at the table. Although we do not administer the programs, it is important that we have a voice at the table, it is important that we protect the weaker provinces and it is important that we protect all Canadians equally.