Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time this afternoon with the member for Kitchener Centre, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment.
I am pleased to have the opportunity to rise today to take part in the Bloc Quebecois opposition day motion, but I will not rise in support of the motion and condemn the government. In fact, what I will do is speak of the new and innovative ways in which the government is working with the provinces and the territories to improve our health care system. I will concentrate on talking about the dispute avoidance and resolution process that was talked about today during question period.
The Government of Canada is not interested in imposing its own vision of health care on provinces and territories. Clearly provinces and territories have the constitutional authority to manage and deliver health care in their respective provinces and territories. However the Government of Canada firmly supports Canada's publicly funded health care system, a system which ensures that all Canadians have reasonably timely access to appropriate health services, that Canadians are able to access these health services regardless of where they live and that access is based upon medical need and not the ability to pay.
Canada's universally accessible, publicly administered health care system is a cornerstone of the Canadian way of life. It is something of which Canadians are proud and speak with pride. In essence, medicare reflects some of what is best in Canada: a sense of community, compassion, and caring about each other's welfare.
These values also are embodied in the principles of the Canada Health Act, principles of universality, accessibility, comprehensiveness, affordability and public administration for insured hospital and medical services. These principles ensure that every Canadian receives the necessary hospital and physician services that they need.
In creating such a health care system, we have ensured that never again will any Canadian family be bankrupted because a member of their family is hospitalized or go without physician and hospital services because they lack the resources to pay for the care they need.
Canadians want to see their governments working together to ensure that their publicly funded health care system, which they so value, will continue to deliver the high quality services that Canadians have come to expect.
Members will recall that in September 2000, the first ministers responded and agreed to a health action plan. It was a proud moment in the history of the government. The government affirmed that the key roles of the publicly funded health system in Canada were “to preserve, protect and improve the health of Canadians” and ensure that Canadians had reasonable, timely access to an appropriate range of health services based on their needs and not on the ability to pay.
In support of that health action plan and the government's long term commitment to ensuring quality health care for Canadians, the Government of Canada committed to invest more than $21.2 billion toward health over five years. In addition to that sum of money, the health action plan also included $2.3 billion in federal funding to address jointly agreed upon priorities of upgrading hospital and diagnostic equipment, of better access to doctors, nurses and other frontline health practitioners and of making better use of information and communication technologies.
After the health action plan, this commitment was reaffirmed by the Government of Canada in the 2001 Speech from the Throne. This funding was fully protected in budget 2001 despite the economic slowdown and we will see the federal contribution to health care reach an all time high this year.
As well, this September, for the first time, as a result of the health action plan of the first ministers, governments will report to Canadians on health system performances. This will be achieved by governments using a common set of indicators. The report is a significant move by governments toward improved accountability to their citizens on how their health dollars are being spent.
Governments are working together to ensure that the Canadian health care system will be sustainable in the future. Canadians expect to have timely access to high quality health care today as well as tomorrow. Canadians want their governments to work together to protect and strengthen their health care system.
The Government of Canada is committed to working collaboratively and cooperatively with the provinces and territories in developing a common vision of health care. This has been demonstrated by the first ministers' agreement on a health action plan and continues to be demonstrated in the development of a Canada Health Act dispute avoidance and resolution process.
The Canada Health Act establishes national standards related to insured health care services that the provinces and territories must meet to receive full payment under the Canada health and social transfer.
There is considerable flexibility under the Canada Health Act for provinces and territories to manage and deliver their own health insurance plans. The Government of Canada recognizes that one potential area for intergovernmental disagreement is the interpretation of the Canada Health Act. We are working with the provinces and territories to develop a dispute avoidance and resolution process for the act.
The conception of a Canada Health Act dispute avoidance and resolution process began in February 1999. The Government of Canada, nine provinces and the territories agreed on a new framework to strengthen Canada's health and social programs to better meet the needs of Canadians.
In the spirit of mutual respect and cooperation the Government of Canada signed the social union framework agreement with the provinces and territories. This agreement committed governments to work collaboratively to avoid and resolve intergovernmental disputes while respecting the legislative provisions of the governments involved. The section of the framework related to dispute avoidance and resolution, and provided guidelines for the development of the process in the areas of intergovernmental initiatives.
It was agreed that the dispute avoidance and resolution framework would apply to intergovernmental commitments on mobility, intergovernmental transfers, the interpretation of the Canada Health Act principles and, as appropriate, on any new joint initiatives between the federal government and the provinces and territories.
Work on the development of a Canada Health Act dispute avoidance and resolution process was initiated when the conference of ministers of health met in the fall of 2000. This collaborative work is to result in a process that is consistent with the commitments made by governments in the social union framework agreement while respecting the federal government's obligations under the Canada Health Act.
Since then the Government of Canada and the governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Newfoundland and Labrador have been working together to develop a process that is appropriate to addressing intergovernmental differences related to the interpretation of the Canada Health Act principles.
All governments have committed to support the principles of the Canada Health Act and to work in partnership to protect and strengthen our publicly funded health care system. Governments are striving to develop a mechanism that is simple, efficient and transparent. Cooperating and working in collaboration to both avoid and resolve intergovernmental differences is in the best interests of all Canadians. However, the best way to resolve a dispute is to avoid it in the first place.
It is important for a Canada Health Act dispute avoidance and resolution process to have an appropriate balance between avoidance activities and dispute resolution activities. This is a balance that the Government of Canada is working to achieve in collaboration with the provinces and territories.
The Government of Canada believes that it can reach an agreement on a Canada Health Act dispute avoidance and resolution process. The federal government is working diligently with the provinces and is making steady progress. A Canada Health Act dispute avoidance and resolution process can be achieved if governments continue to work together in the spirit of collaboration and co-operation.
All governments are committed to adhering to the principles of the Canada Health Act. These principles represent a common vision of a publicly funded national health care system which all governments share. Governments can best strengthen and preserve medicare by preventing and resolving Canada Health Act disputes in a fair and transparent manner. Canadians expect and deserve nothing less.