Mr. Speaker, there is a very simple answer to that. When we look at the Canada Health Act, it is for medically necessary services. Medically necessary services are determined by the provinces. We have to respect their jurisdiction on that and we have to understand that is the way it works. If we want to change the Canada Health Act, that debate would have to happen nationally. That is what the NDP is suggesting. I disagree with that. Provinces need to have the flexibility on delivery.
The problem is not about who delivers the service. The problem is that we have no accessibility to the service. Canadians are really concerned about that. They want to have the services, which they pay for through their taxes, when they are in need of them. Right now a million people are on wait lists, many dying and many dying in emergency rooms because of inability to access the services for which they pay.
We put $121 billion a year into health care. All Canadians ask for is when they are sick and when they need it, it be there for them. That is being jeopardized right now. We have not seen anything yet.
The pressure on our health care system has not started. Just give it 10 or 20 years. What will our health care system look like in 2040? We have to change the paradigm. We have to make the patient first and we have to make decisions based on their best interests. We do that by allowing and respecting the jurisdictions of the provinces to deliver on health care. They will be rewarded or they will be victimized on how well they do in this.
Under a publicly funded system, we need competition within that system and there are many ways of doing that such as funding hospitals differently, funding doctors differently, how it is structured, who they contract out and so on. That all has to be part of a system that is strong and healthy. As we move forward, that flexibility has to be there. The health accord allowed for that and that was one reason we had no problem with the accord. We have a bigger problem with a government that has not committed to the health accord.