Health committee  I think it's important for the federal government to provide leadership, but not in educating doctors. There are some areas that are obviously under provincial management, but at the federal government level we require some oversight and guardianship, some leadership to encourage innovations in the public system to solve problems, and some funding.

Health committee  No, they've met the limited goal of the two-week post-acute care, but we've narrowed the goals so much. We're not talking about comprehensive home and community supports in the accord; it's only a two-week period. We've met that. But now we need to get on with the full continuum of home care.

Health committee  That's right.

Health committee  I would comment that the accord's agreement on home care is extremely narrow and very inadequate to the home care needs of Canadians. That's contributing to serious problems with access to hospital services. If you can't give people access to home services, they're going to land in the hospitals.

Health committee  From talking with them, provincial ministers of health seem extremely frustrated that they have a colleague in the federal government who doesn't even want to meet them. They don't even have regular meetings any more, and it's because the federal government will not come to the table with financial resources.

Health committee  Maybe to respond quickly from the perspective of the Canadian Health Coalition, there is an essential statutory duty on the part of the federal government, and if the current government doesn't believe in that, then maybe they're in the wrong job. We have an election coming, and if they think health care is exclusively provincial and that Canadians don't want national standards, that Quebeckers don't want health care when they move to British Columbia, and vice versa, then that should part of the election debate.

Health committee  Sure. I will wrap up with two sentences. Medicare needs public guardians, not private traders. Canadians expect the federal government to be the guardian of medicare and to enforce the Canada Health Act to ensure national standards. They expect the law to be implemented in all provinces, including Quebec.

Health committee  Sure. I apologize for being late. On behalf of the Canadian Health Coalition, I'd like to thank the committee for the opportunity to appear. I must say, however, that I'm very disappointed in the limited amount of time, and obviously the limited number of Canadians who have the opportunity to appear at this extremely important exercise in accountability.