Mr. Speaker, there were two streams of policy alternatives that I heard in terms of witness testimony: either fully repeal paragraph 38(1)(c) or make a wide variety of changes to the existing policy. The government has made some changes. As I mentioned in my speech, there are some things I would like to see that I think would reduce the administrative burden on people trying to enter this process.
I just want to reiterate my full support. We heard cases that were really difficult, and we want to approach policy changes with heart and compassion. In terms of data, I found it interesting that we went to CIHI and some pretty robust sources of health data, and we could not get any sort of modelling that would tell us what the long-term potential demand on the system would be.
This is not to say whether or not we would have supported that, but if we are going to make a change like that, it is incumbent upon the government to make plans to pay for it. We are stewards of taxpayer dollars, so while we have an obligation to be compassionate and protect the most vulnerable, the other side of the equation, which many of us here often forget, is that we have to pay for things. It is not us paying for things; it is Canadians paying for things. We want to ensure that we are compassionate. We also want to make sure that we have plans to see sustainability in the social programs Canadians depend upon.