Mr. Speaker, the former premier of Saskatchewan, Roy Romanow, says he agrees with Ottawa's decision not to increase funding for health in the federal budget brought down on March 23. He said:
Adding $2 billion to medicare without first agreeing on the reforms would be an unwise use of taxpayer dollars.
Money injected into an unreformed system would be swallowed up and the provinces would only demand more.
If Ottawa simply added to the base, as the provinces want...it would probably not be a very good idea.
Mr. Romanow said he agreed with the provincial premiers that there needs to be an increase in federal funding, but the provincial governments forget to mention that he recommended starting by introducing changes so that the health care system is able to meet the current needs of Canadians.
The Prime Minister of Canada said that a reformed system could improve the health of Canadians.