Mr. Speaker, from one health critic to the other, I am not sure whether the member took a breath during his speech and I must say that air is good for people and he should use it. The member may have misunderstood what is happening here.
This national strategy, particularly the cancer strategy, is not a Conservative Party document. This document has been put together by all the major stakeholders in the cancer community, including members from Quebec. The strategy brings together expert advice. It is an arm's length council of experts. It allows provinces to opt in and opt out as the case may be, and it respects the autonomy of provincial governments in health care delivery. It focuses on outcomes and results and is managed, in most cases, locally.
The strategy is not a program out of Ottawa and will not be run by the federal government. We are asking the federal government to provide the money for the program but that the stakeholders, the people, the council would implement it. It is quite different from what the member has described.
It is a small “n” national strategy. The fact is that we are in this together. We share a lot of the same challenges. The fact that the member is in the House today indicates that there are many common concerns between people who live in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba or Alberta and cancer is one of them.
The point I am making is that the federal government will not really be involved in the strategy other than in the funding of it. The bureaucracy has shown that it is unable to implement a national strategy. The fact is the Liberal government has shown contempt for the stakeholders in the cancer community by rejecting the strategy.
I wonder if the member would reconsider given that the strategy would be arm's length, that there would be provincial autonomy and that it would be for the greater good. This strategy will save lives, the lives of his constituents, the people who vote for him. I am sure he does not want to lose his voters.
I would ask the member to please reconsider and help us implement the strategy because it will help everyone.