Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague from Edmonton Strathcona for her excellent work in standing up for a strong public health care system in the face of, in her province of Alberta, a Conservative premier who is attacking the very notion of public health care and floating the idea of privatizing parts of our system.
Canadians value and cherish our public health care system. They know how important it is that every Canadian can get access to the medical care they need, regardless of their wealth or their social status. Canadians are most proud of that.
To make it work, we need a strong federal government as an equal partner at the table that is meeting its fiscal obligations and also enforcing the Canada Health Act, which has five principles. We count on the federal government to ensure that any province that violates those principles is immediately addressed.
Frankly, I have seen successive federal governments, both Conservative and Liberal, fail on that front. We have privatized MRI services in Saskatchewan, private surgical ideas floated in Alberta and the New Brunswick government failing to ensure women have access to reproductive health services. We need the federal government to get back in the game, to exercise its jurisdiction and to fund the health care system properly, so Canadians can not only have the health care system they are used to, but expand our health care system to make it more comprehensive and deliver health care in the most efficient way. We know public health care is the best and most efficient way to deliver that care.