Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Brampton South.
I want to start by expressing what I believe is a general feeling from all of my Liberal colleagues, that there is so much love and appreciation for the fine work, day in and day out, seven days a week, 24 hours a day, by our health care providers, in particular those who have been there in our long-term care facilities.
I know that in saying that, we should also recognize, as has been pointed out, that there have been far too many deaths over the last 12 months in our care-home facilities. It is one of the reasons why it is such an important debate to have. The issue, for me, is establishing national health care standards, something that the Prime Minister and our entire caucus and I believe is absolutely essential. It is one of the things we have learned through this pandemic, namely, that that there is a genuine, tangible need to have national standards when it comes to long-term care facilities. That is something we will continue to push and strive for.
Since the start of the pandemic, we have had close to 4,000 staff members from the Canadian Red Cross who have provided care, or support of some sort, in over 150 long-term care facilities based in Ontario, Quebec and my home province of Manitoba. We are also indebted to the members of the Canadian Armed Forces who came to the table in the spring of 2020 to provide support for 50 or so long-term care facilities, again in Quebec and Ontario. We understand the value and importance of this issue to all Canadians, no matter where they live in our beautiful country.
I am a bit surprised by my New Democrat friends. Surely to goodness they understand the issue of health care and responsibilities. I have tried to point out what I believe is a fundamental issue with what the NDP members are proposing to do. I would cite the example that in health care Ottawa plays a critical role, as it should, through the Canada Health Act, which we can look at ways of enhancing. We finally have a government that has worked to get agreements on health care accords, unlike Stephen Harper's government, which ignored the issue. We see that in some of the comments by the Conservatives, who do not want to get engaged in the issue of health care. Conservatives will just say that it is a provincial or territorial issue.
We recognize that Ottawa does have a role to play. However, we also recognize that the only way we are going to have the optimal service that Canadians deserve is to get Ottawa working with provinces to recognize the problems and to work toward positive, creative solutions. That is the way we can maximize the benefits.
I am very disappointed in my New Democrat friends for not coming to the table and saying that they have consulted and worked with the provinces and have some of their support. The best I can tell is that the New Democrats have achieved zero support for this idea. It is almost as if they had a caucus meeting and said, “Let's do this, because we want to do this.” Even though, as they say, the NDP favours 100% public ownership of all care home facilities, it is only the national NDP that is talking about that. I have pointed out that we have had NDP governments in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, British Columbia and Alberta, and I cannot recall any of them, and definitely not in my province of Manitoba where, in the last 20 years, the New Democrats have been in government for 15 of those years, who have supported that.
The provinces are the ones who will ultimately administer this and they play a very strong leadership role. We, on the other hand, can influence them as well. What we can say here is what we, as a national government, want to see across the nation. No matter where someone lives in our country, they will feel comfortable in knowing that there is a national standard when it comes to care-home facilities.
I have confidence, and all members should have confidence, in provinces because it is their jurisdictional responsibility to provide these services. I have confidence in their ability to recognize what is in the national best interest. What the pandemic highlights is that it is in the national best interest. It is in every Canadian's interest to establish national standards. I suspect that over the coming months and years, there will be dialogue between Ottawa and the provinces. Based on what I have heard from the Conservatives, I sure hope it will not be the Conservatives in power then because, at the end of the day, much like the Bloc, they would argue that they just have to give the money. Giving the money is important, but not tying it to anything or providing those standards would be a grave mistake.
We should be sitting down with our provincial counterparts and making the argument that we should all look at what we have learned in the last 12 months. As one member has already pointed out, the serious issues at long-term care facilities even pre-date the last 12 months of the pandemic.
We represent constituents. We are supposed to bring their concerns to Ottawa and debate them in terms of public policy, whether in our standing committees or on the floor of the House or within our respective caucuses. I can tell members without betraying any caucus confidences that the concern for our seniors aged 55 and over is very real, and we want to continue to move forward with a number of initiatives.
One of the most important initiatives, whether it is the Prime Minister, the Minister of Health or individual members of the Liberal caucus talking about it, is ensuring that we have standards. We recognize that we have lost lives. As a consequence, we can improve the system. However, to jump to the conclusion that the only way to improve this system is to have 100 per cent public ownership might be a stretch.
If we look at our current health care apparatus and the many services that feed into that apparatus, would the NDP advocate that all 100 per cent of it should become publicly owned? As a party, when bringing in an opposition motion, there is also a responsibility to do one's homework. Part of that homework is being to expand on how what one is suggesting can be implemented.
That is why I posed the question. Sure, here is an idea and I have a lot of ideas. Time will not allow me to go through all those ideas, but at the end of the day, we want to make a difference and we are going to do that. Whether via legislative or budgetary measures, this government has made seniors a top priority. On that list we have got to deal with long-term care facilities and standards. We have to deal with issues like pharmacare, the OAS, the guaranteed income supplement and at how we can support our seniors tomorrow by enhancing CPP benefits.
There is so much we can do. A lot of it involves Ottawa working with the different provincial jurisdictions in order for us to maximize the benefits for all seniors from coast to coast to coast. To me, that is what we should be striving to achieve.
Members will get a good sample of that when they read some of the documents we have provided. Last September, we talked, through the throne speech, of ways in which we can—