Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank the mayor, councillors and citizens of Thompson. May 1, 2003 was proclaimed National Public Medicare Day in Thompson.
The citizens of Thompson, like those throughout Canada, call on the government to follow through on the Romanow report. The resolution supports Canada's publicly funded and delivered health care system and the principles of the Canada Health Act. It calls on the government to protect, restore and improve our public medicare system with the funding to do it.
The government needs to show leadership. It needs to take immediate action to implement the Romanow health report recommendations including a national public health strategy. The present concerns around SARS and the West Nile virus emphasize the urgent need for the government to act now.
The health minister's decision to minimize SARS screening and now to cut funding to West Nile crow testing shows her lack of commitment and disregard for the health of Canadians.
The government needs to act now, not tomorrow or the next day or the year after.