Therefore we thought it fitting to save one of the most important topics to Canadians for last. This week’s question is on health care.

University of Alberta health economist Richard Plain asks:

What would you do if a province violated the Canada Health Act by allowing insurance companies to sell policies offering faster access to publicly insured medical services and publicly owned hospitals, while Medicare patients, who paid for the services and facilities through taxes, and in some cases provincial Medicare premiums, were forced to wait?

Michael Fedeyko, Progressive Canadian:

We are having the wrong debate here. Four out of ten provinces already do not prohibit private insurance.

So why are we suddenly concerned with this? It's a smoke screen to bring about a culture of defeat where we will accept two tier, U.S.-style medical care. In the U.S. system, they spend 700 dollars a year more than we do, per person, on ADMINISTRATION. This just copes with the inefficiencies of their private insurance based system. It's also money that can't go into treating patients.

The Canadian system of payment, with its single-payer system, is more efficient than private insurance systems in the U.S. That's why, even though it's legal in four provinces, nobody is using it. There's no market for it.

There are things broken in the health care system. We need to fix them. We have a program to do just that. It starts by getting an independent body to report the real situation on health care with standard, benchmarked data. Concerned doctors and health care leaders have already proposed how this can be done. They know, that when voters have the real facts, and the real issues are exposed that the solution won't be two-tier medicine or private insurance.

There are places in this country where knee and hip replacement is done in weeks and not years. There are places where other waiting times are being brought down. And there are areas where great inefficiencies exist. We need to expose the inefficiencies and ask why others don't adopt successful measures. We need to measure the value we receive for our investment in health care and hold people accountable when it is not delivered. Only the Progressive Canadian party is proposing this kind of solution.

Andy Hladyshevsky, Liberal:

I am committed to a publicly funded, single-payer health care system based on the five principles of the Canada Health Act. A health care system must be comprehensive, portable, publicly administered, universal and accessible.

Any province which violates the Canada Health Act, where Medicare patients are forced to wait while patients with for-profit private health care plans take precedence, will have their provincial funding for health care curtailed. This is a clear violation and I will support reduction of funding to that province.

To support the publicly funded health care system the Liberal Government, in September of 2004, committed $41.3 billion dollars in new health care funding over the next 10 years. Of this commitment, $4.2 billion will go to improve health care in Alberta. As well, $550 million is committed to reducing waiting lists in Alberta with a focus on cancer treatment, heart surgery, MRI technology, hip and joint replacements and cataract surgery.

I believe in strengthening the health care system, not weakening it. Access to health care is guaranteed by your health card, not your credit card."

Linda Duncan, NDP:

The NDP's health care platform is directed at strengthening Canada's public health care system, while at the same time preventing the shift to an expensive, Americanized, privatized method of delivery. The NDP will prevent the use of taxpayers’ dollars to subsidize privately insured programs, by pursuing tough new rules to:

N require stable, long-term federal transfers for health care, contingent on a commitment from provinces and territories that no federal money, directly or indirectly, will be used to subsidize a new, separate, profit-making private insurance system covering medically necessary services;

N prohibit use of any federal transfer funds to directly or indirectly subsidize salaries or costs of doctors, nurses or other professionals associated with delivering any new, separate, for-profit insured delivery system;

N ensure public accountability for federal transfers through a stricter compliance regime, including enhanced monitoring and enforcement.

But actions to counter privatization are not enough. Health delivery studies indicate that a more cost-effective approach to delivering timely, affordable, and quality care is through greater efficiencies in the public system. The NDP will address critical health care needs through:

N a national home care program, enabling patients to be cared for in the comfort of their own homes, while freeing up acute-care beds;

N a national prescription drug plan to reduce costs for both individuals and provincial health plans;

N a long-term care expansion plan, adding 10,000 spaces this year;

N training more doctors, nurses and other health care professionals.

Tough, new rules, coupled with those already enshrined in the Canada Health Act, and the recommended targeted federal spending will prevent further undermining of the Canadian health care system by privatization. Reform is needed. But we must ensure the changes made to our health care system are made in the best interests of all Canadians.

Rahim Jaffer, Conservative:

It is imperative to address this question by examining the facts regarding health care as they exist in Canada today and not by addressing hypothetical situations. The Conservative Party fully supports the Canada Health Act and we will enforce the Act with regard to any violations that may occur.

The Liberals have done nothing to reduce wait times other than throw money at the problem and engage in excessive partisan rhetoric. They have failed to reduce wait times. They have failed to honour the commitments they made in the 2004 Health Accord. And they continue to engage in false rhetoric about private health care while at the same time the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party of Canada passes a resolution to allow private insurance to pay for health care. The Liberal record on health care is littered with hypocrisy and inaction.

Only a new Conservative government will give Canadians a Wait Times Health Care Guarantee. Only the Conservatives will deliver timely access to quality health care services regardless of ability to pay. A Conservative government will work with the provinces to develop a Patient Wait Times Guarantee to ensure that all Canadians receive essential medical treatment within clinically acceptable waiting times. Clearly and unequivocally embracing the Patient Wait Times Guarantee is the only way governments can preserve both the principles of the Canada Health Act and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

It is these principles that will address the real issues in healthcare, and it these principles I will work for as the elected Member of Parliament for Edmonton Strathcona.

Kevan Hunter, Marxist-Leninist:

The Canada Health Act does not provide adequate penalties. Funds can be deducted from the transfers to a province from the federal government if patients are charged for insured services. This is not really a penalty–the province did not provide the services and will not receive payment for them. However, even this provision is not enforced. Instead, the Liberals have initiated a "disputes resolution process"–which is another way of saying they are not taking any action.

While the law must be enforced, this alone is not enough to guarantee the right of all Canadians to free, high-quality, public, comprehensive and modern health care. Health care is too important to be left to the marketplace, and the growth of a parallel private system threatens the public system. Therefore new measures are required to reverse this tide. The MLPC would enact a new Canada Health Act. The new Act would define medically necessary services (as decided by health care providers.) The Act would make private insurance and/or charges to a patient for medically necessary services illegal and provide appropriate penalties. (Ironically, only Alberta’s Bill 11 contains provisions to fine anyone who charges for insured services in private "surgical facilities," although enforcement is an issue.)

The Act should also provide a guarantee to patients that they will receive the services in a timely fashion. This guarantee should be judicially enforced. The federal Ministry of Health must be socially responsible for the adequate funding of health care. The right to health care requires both public, free, and timely care. The attempt by governments to present the issue as public, but rationed health care vs. private, for-profit health care, available when needed, is unconscionable. Health care is a Right!

Dave Dowling, Marijuana:

If a province tried pirating and sinking one of the fundamental pillars of the Canada Health Act, I would make it my mission to haul that barbarian three-tiered, health care believing crew of pirates up on charges of piracy! Pirates and pirate platforms are wrong and so un-Canadian. Visit votedave.net for more info on how to stop the pirates plundering for expensive white elephant projects.

The platform I have and know is most excellent for Canada enables funding to be there for health care that is for everyone–single-tiered, not double or triple-tiered like all the pirates want. It does not take pirates plundering $50 to 80 billion from the overtaxed voters, like the pirates platforms do to make sure health care is singled tiered with no line ups for anyone.  For more on this great platform visit votedave.net for more information.

The platform I Dave Dowling, your number one choice on the ballot have is simple to understand, easy to implement, and beneficial to the entire health care system and more, from coast to coast to coast. This platform is made in Canada, by Canadians, for Canadians. It is not a "let’s import some ameriCONism plans that pillage more loot from the taxed voters for higher prices for less health care services." Unlike the $50 to 80 billion dollar pirate’s platform, my platform is real, can be implemented and pillages no new, ill-gotten gain (taxes) from the overtaxed voter. Visit votedave.net.