Madam Speaker, first of all, I do not need the hon. member to suggest to me that I do not write my own speeches. That is exactly what I do, as he knows, and I have my own ideas to express in this area, thanks very much.
First, by not protecting the Canada Health Act we in fact are not protecting Canadians. The two are the same, quite frankly, so I am talking about protecting Canadians. I am talking about getting enough doctors. I am talking about getting the wait lines down. What the hon. member forgets is that in Ontario for 10 years Mr. Harris cut taxes to the bone. We have put all of that money and more back in three accords, but it did not matter because Mr. Harris kept cutting services.
At the same time, the reform needed in the system did not happen. There are huge shortages, which have to be addressed. There is absolutely no question about it. That is why we have a third accord, which provides an additional $41 billion plus an escalator for the next 10 years to make sure there are enough funds. Now it is not an issue of money but an issue of reform. The provinces and the Government of Canada have to work together and they have to work fast to reform.
First of all, some of the doctors in this country are far too busy worrying about their bottom line and not about reform. Community health centres is the way to go. We have to reform the primary health care delivery system in this country. Otherwise it does not much matter what we do because we cannot bring the costs down. That has to happen.
We need to bring down the cost of the wait lines. If that means guaranteeing that people can be treated by bringing in foreign doctors and getting them ready to work, because we have denied them work for I do not know how many years and they are driving taxis instead--