Madam Speaker, first, I would like to thank my hon. colleague from Vancouver Kingsway for his collaboration on the health committee.
I agree with him, and I will re-emphasize our number one priority. Health care in Canada should remain, and always be, publicly funded, universally available and equitably delivered to all Canadians. I was in the health committee as we heard from nurses unions, doctors, experts, academics, patients and people all across the ecosystem of the health care sector. I heard those exact same anecdotes.
I would lean in on quotes from some of those experts following the announcements last week, including, but certainly not limited to, Dr. Alika Lafontaine, the new president of the Canadian Medical Association. He said, “Today’s commitment by the federal government to significantly increase health transfers to provincial and territorial governments is an important step to stabilize and transform our health care systems.” It is all about repairing and preparing.