Mr. Speaker, let me assure the House that our government is firmly committed to actively defending our publicly funded health care system. Like all Canadians, we share the strong belief that all individuals deserve access to timely, quality health care, regardless of their backgrounds, physical needs, where they live, or how much they make. This is part of what defines us as a nation.
Our government has shown time and again that we stand behind the core Canadian values of equity and solidarity. These are the very values that underpin the Canada Health Act. This is why we will continue to work collaboratively with our provincial and territorial colleagues to ensure that citizens across the country can readily access and depend on our cherished health care system.
Publicly funded health care in Canada is based on five principles, contained in the Canada Health Act. These principles include comprehensiveness of insured health services; universality of population covered; reasonable access to insured services without the impediments of user charges; portability of health benefits; and public, non-profit administration of health insurance plans.
Canadians believe in the equality of citizens, and our health care system reflects that fundamental belief. For this reason, Canadians are proud of our publicly funded health care system. In fact, a Statistics Canada report on Canadian identity, published in October 2015, found that almost 80% of Canadians have pride in the Canadian health care system.
The federal government wants to ensure that Canadians continue to have this strong sense of pride, and accordingly, we are committed to working closely and collaboratively with our provincial and territorial counterparts to realize the aims of the Canada Health Act.
The Canada Health Act is clear. Under the act, provincial and territorial health insurance plans are required to cover medically necessary hospital and physician services. Any charges to patients for these publicly insured services are considered extra billing or user charges and are prohibited under the act. Ultimately, these fees create barriers to accessing health care, and our government would like to see such fees eliminated.
When Canadians elected our government, they chose a government that promised to focus on a new and more collaborative relationship with the provinces and territories. Therefore, our government's approach to the administration of the Canada Health Act will emphasize transparency, consultation, and dialogue with provincial and territorial health care ministries to resolve potential issues.
The Minister of Health has made it very clear that she upholds the principles of the Canada Health Act. That is why the federal Minister of Health recently wrote to the Quebec health minister underscoring her commitment to a publicly funded health care system, without charges to patients for insured services. She asked that his financial statement of extra billing and user charges for 2014-15, due to Health Canada this December, reflect information on these charges, as documented in the Quebec Auditor General's report this May.
It is important to remember that the ultimate goal of enforcement is not to levy penalties but to ensure compliance with the principles of the Canada Health Act so that Canadians have access to the health care they need when they need it. I am pleased that the Quebec minister of health recently announced concrete action toward removing barriers to access by eliminating fees charged to patients for insured services at the point of delivery.
Let me conclude by confirming that our government believes that any trend toward privatization resulting in a move toward a two-tiered system undermines the fundamental principles of the Canada Health Act and would be deemed a threat to our publicly funded health care system. As such, our government will continue to defend the principles of the Canada Health Act.