Mr. Chairman, my questions are quite simple when it comes down to it. When we look at health care, we see some major problems. There is no question of that.
My hon. colleague talked about the Canada Health Act and the values of it. I think we bought into that as a nation and that is fine. However those five principles were set up in 1983-84 and the health care system has changed significantly since that time. We have a system now where the technologies have changed, drug therapies have changed and who delivers health care has changed. That act was set up really for primary care and only for primary care. The system has evolved so much more since then.
The obvious question is this. Does the Canada Health Act, which contains the five principles, need to be freshened up and does it cover all the bases to sustain a system that is affordable for everyone, regardless of their financial means, and that moves us ahead into the 21st century? Does it deal with time limits? Does it deal with accountabilities? Does it deal with quality of care and some of the things that we cherish and want to have in our health care system? This is why we are saying that the system must change from being system driven to patient driven.
Would my colleague like to comment on the areas of the Canada Health Act that need to be spruced up? Perhaps she could comment as well on the sustainability of the system as well as the funding as one of the principles.