Mr. Chair, this is a long-standing social contract that exists between the Canadian Armed Forces and our provincial governments in the delivery of health care across this country. Members of the Canadian Armed Forces are paid for out of the national defence budget. The cost of taking care of people who are not within the public health insurance programs that we have across this country is the cost that it is. That is how hospitals reach the decision of how much they pay for visitors who are not Canadian and do not pay into our health insurance programs. However, neither do those under national defence, because they often require greater care. We try to take care of them as best we can within the military hospitals on base, but when they require extra services, special attention and specialists, it is in the military's best interest to get those from the public hospital system.
What date was this decision made and when was it implemented? Will there be any opportunity to see savings that come out of this go back to our troops or is this just another way to get cheap on the backs of our soldiers?