Madam Chair, far from being doctrinaire, the five principles in the Canada Health Act, if that is what the hon. member is referring to, are flexible principles that represent Canadian values and Canadian principles.
The hon. member accuses the Government of Canada of being doctrinaire, I would remind him that those five principles were reinforced and endorsed by all first ministers in September 2000 and in fact were reinforced and endorsed yet again by all first ministers in February of this year. It is not us who are being doctrinaire. All first ministers believe that those five principles in the Canada Health Act represent fundamental values that animate our health care system.
Now building on that, if we look at the principles, the principles are not straitjackets. The principles are flexible to reflect the fact that the health care system is large, dynamic and constantly changing, and one must encourage innovation and creativity. Nothing in the five principles of the Canada Health Act prevent that innovation or creativity. That is why the provinces are experimenting in so many different ways around a host of things, including different delivery mechanisms for publicly financed health care.
I would have to take real exception to the comment that the hon. member makes around the five principles of the Canadian Health Act because they seem to be embraced by all our first ministers, as well as most Canadians. In fact, some Canadians would suggest that we add a principle called “accountability”.
However the member is right. Health care systems are judged by how they serve their patients, which is why the health accord, and not only the new dollars but the structural change that is embedded in that health accord, is so important. It is only through that structural change that this system will be able to better serve its clients, its patients.