Mr. Chairman, with regard to prescription drugs there are a lot of Canadians who are financially unable to have a drug plan or are unable for whatever reasons to buy certain drugs for their medical condition. I deal with people in these circumstances on a continuous basis. As I mentioned in my speech tonight, I know of a woman who has spent $3,700 for medication. She is going to have to declare bankruptcy.
The federal government is going to have to make prescription drugs easily available for these exceptions, or the federal government and the provinces will need to work together to make sure that people have access to them. Sometimes provincial governments shift the blame and say it is a federal government problem. I have heard that many times. I spent 22 years fighting the provincial government on issues regarding health care. It always blamed the federal government for a shortage of money. We have to work together. We have to try something different. With a co-operative spirit we should be able to work these things out.