Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.
Roy Romanow described the health council that was promised by the first ministers in their recent health accord as the “heart and soul of health care reform”. Now that the council has been delayed to the end of this month or possibly even later, will the Prime Minister assure Canadians that the council will be fully independent of governments, that it will be a public watchdog able to monitor and expose the destructive impact of privatization on health care delivery and will he ensure that it is chaired by a passionate advocate of public health care, not a privatizer like Frank McKenna or Michael Wilson?