Not only for Quebec.
We have also looked at the cost of drugs going up for all provinces, for the territories. How do we handle that? Is it with a national drug strategy, a national drug program, as some have suggested? We did not believe so. I did not believe so. Many people did not believe so. But we saw that there were some areas of improvement and that we could cooperate with the provinces to build toward a national strategy where we would reduce the cost and improve the availability.
We looked at home care and we looked at catastrophic drug costs and we said the same thing. We have some different systems here and there across the country that can be improved on.
We have a great home care system in Nova Scotia. It does not mean that it is perfect. We can continue to work on it. New Brunswick has a model home care system. We continue to work on it at the national level. How do we improve that?
We recognized a long time ago that certain illnesses can create huge demands on families because of the drug costs which can drive a family into poverty. That is what we call catastrophic drug costs. Even if we cannot have a national pharmacare program, we have to repair it. It is our responsibility and our duty. We must work with the provinces to come up with a system that protects families from financial failure due to health concerns.
It has been pointed out very well in this House this evening the necessity for replacing medical practitioners. We are talking about doctors and nurses. In the medical world of today and tomorrow, practitioners can mean other things. We have to have the systems in place to train them. We have to train them in both official languages. We have to use the skills of the immigrants who come with those skill sets. We have to more quickly recognize their credentials so that we can use their skills and bring them into the country and encourage more to come. For those who are already here we can improve our system in that way.
We have agreed that we would put a lot of money into training. We are working with the provinces toward that. In British Columbia and Ontario we are opening two new medical schools, if I am not mistaken, which will certainly assist. In Sudbury a medical school is opening.
We are training nurses and practitioners in isolated communities, nearer to home. If we bring them to the south or if we bring them to the large centres, it is tough to get them back on the farm. It is the problem we have in West Nova. We do not have a lot of farms but we send a lot of doctors to be trained and they do not necessarily come back home. We need them. We need those nurses. We have to look at how we do that.
Services to official language communities is a very important issue. I remember as a 10-year old going to hospital, unable to speak English and being there for ten days. Today, the surgery is done in a day, and we leave. But in those days, I had to spend ten days in our small hospital in Yarmouth without being able to communicate. It was a very traumatic experience.
In rural communities in southwest Nova Scotia, in Cape Breton, elderly people approaching the end of their lives end up in hospital and have to communicate in their second language at a time when they are at their most vulnerable and in greatest need. It becomes very uncomfortable. That is why I am pleased that it was recognized as part of this agreement that official language training for professionals in a minority situation is a priority and that funding is provided for that purpose. I am pleased that all the provinces have agreed and are participating.
I am pleased that we are carrying on. I urge the minister to increase funding and I hope that the work on primary care with community volunteers will continue. This is a Canada-wide network of volunteers working with communities with a view to improve, in communities in a minority situation, the delivery of primary care in French in the provinces outside Quebec and in English in Quebec. These are often remote communities, located far from major urban canters.
I am also very pleased with what we have accomplished with the aboriginal people.
The additional $700 million, that we have been able to provide native and northern communities, will assist in the areas of critical importance. These are the fastest growing communities and populations in our country, and often the only sectors that have actual growth within our communities. Here we have problems like fetal alcohol syndrome, childhood diabetes, and childhood obesity. If we do not make the proper investments, rather than being full contributors, those are populations that are at risk for the future.
I am very pleased with what was accomplished and very proud of the minister.