Mr. Speaker, again let me be clear. These changes are about restoring fairness to the system. Unlike the NDP and the Liberals, we do not believe that illegal immigrants and bogus asylum claimants should continue to receive gold-plated health care benefits more generous than those received by the Canadian taxpayers and seniors who fund these benefits.
Our changes ensure that genuine refugees and asylum claimants receive health care coverage similar to what the average Canadian taxpayer receives. No longer will we fund supplementary benefits, such as prescription drugs, eye care and dental care. Canadian taxpayers do not receive these benefits through their provincial coverage and it is not fair to ask them to foot the bill.
I urge the member to speak to his constituents and he will quickly learn that Canadians agree with our reasonable changes to restore fairness to the interim federal health program.