Madam Speaker, was it only 10 times today? That is a very impressive feat by my definition.
The reality of the situation is that the Premier of Ontario knows that there is no way this side of the House, the federal Liberal government that brought health care into this country, would ever allow for the privatization of health care in Ontario. So, for the NDP members to take some words that were said out of context and try to jump to the position of saying that this party is now supportive of privatizing health care is ludicrous. It goes against everything they have done in this House since the last election. The member for Burnaby South is absolutely right. They have actually done some really good things that they can take credit for, but what they are doing here today is just back to those old games they used to play before.
The New Democrats introduce these motions that are really laudable, in terms of the objectives here. I do not think anybody really disagrees with anything else in here, but then they drop the one or two poison pills in there that they know we cannot support, so as soon as we do not, they are going to email-blast their friends and say that the federal Liberals will not even say they support universal health care, because the NDP put forward a motion and the Liberals did not support it.
The NDP is just back to the political games I was witness to for the first four or five years in here with the NDP in opposition. I find it really disheartening, because I thought they were here to make a genuine difference, which they have been able to do by using the power they have. Unfortunately, as I have said, they clearly have not done that this time.
What has been worked out with the provinces is $200 billion over the next 10 years. To the member from the Bloc who just asked my colleague a question before me, I will remind him that the provincial leaders have said that this is what they want and this is a good deal they want to be a part of. We are here to make investments in the made-in-Canada health care system we have.
The Canada Health Act, from the very first lines within it, is to ensure all reasonable access to insured health services on a prepaid basis without direct charges at point of service. That is what the health care system in Canada is about.
I have the luxury of never even having had to contemplate the idea of going to see a doctor or going to a hospital and having to pay for it. Can members imagine, and this happens throughout the world and in the States, a young couple having a child and being so excited, but then they get home and a couple of weeks later they get a bill from the hospital for $25,000 or $30,000 to deliver a child? It is a foreign concept to me, because I have had the luxury of the benefit of this system that the Liberal Party brought into place in a minority government, with the assistance of Tommy Douglas and the former NDP before that.
I have had the luxury of that, and I value that. I think it is a really big stretch to think that anybody on this side of the House would actually support the privatization of health care. We have heard NDP members get up and say this on a number of occasions. I heard the member for Burnaby South say it and I have heard other members say it. They have specifically said to members on this side that we have the opportunity to stand up and that now is our time to have our voices heard to protect people and make sure the privatization never occurs by voting for this, but at the same time they know what they did when they wrote this. They put a couple of poison pills in here that made it impossible for us to vote for it.
Earlier, I said to the member for New Westminster—Burnaby, the House leader for the NDP, that I am willing to support this motion and asked if he would be open to removing those two clauses, which really contribute nothing to the objective of the motion. They do not contribute anything to it. I asked if he would be willing to remove those so that I could vote in favour of it, and I am sure they would get a lot more people on this side voting in favour of it. He said no.
It just goes to show that unfortunately the New Democrats are using this as an opportunity to play politics. They did such a good job at standing up for Canadians and delivering for Canadians on a few key issues they believed in during this minority Parliament, and I am just becoming jaded by having to witness what is happening now with that relationship and with their commitment to Canadians.