“I want the member to say more about how hard it is for people in rural areas to get fair health care compared to people in cities.”

“Mr. Speaker, during the member’s remarks, she reflected on the challenges that many rural Canadians face in accessing health care services that the average Canadian in a large urban area would take for granted. Could the member comment more on the challenges that rural Canadians face in equity with respect to health care?”

“People in rural areas cannot get family doctors or specialists. For example, the regional hospital in Penticton lost all three of its neurologists. This kind of problem would not happen in a city.”

“Mr. Speaker, I know much of my colleague’s riding is rural, so his constituents have many of the same issues that rural communities have across the country. They cannot access a family doctor. They cannot access specialists. A good example is the Penticton hospital, which is a regional hospital. It services thousands of people and, by the way, it services thousands of seniors, many of whom have neurological issues. All three neurologists at the hospital quit or stepped down, so we do not have a neurologist in our regional hospital. I do not think that would happen in an urban centre. We are going to be in a lot of trouble if that is not corrected. That is just an example of a problem faced in rural Canada right now with health care.”

“We support the goals of this health data bill, but we still have questions for the committee to look at. I want my colleague to share more about her experience with the Health Infoway scandal while we wait for the audit results.”

“Mr. Speaker, I want to thank and congratulate my colleague on her excellent speech. I think she highlighted our broad support for the bill, and the goals and objectives of the bill, while still making it very clear that there are a number of clarity points that we will be discussing with the government at committee when the bill moves to that stage. I wonder if my colleague would provide a bit more clarity and detail on her experience with the Health Infoway scandal. I know we are awaiting the results of the audit, but I would like to hear some more thoughts from her on that.”

“Infoway lost $300 million and cannot be trusted to run the health program in this bill. The health minister refuses to explain this loss to a committee and wants to audit Infoway before giving it more money. The government needs to fix these problems with Infoway.”

“Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate that the Prime Minister is sitting in the House. Oh, I do not think I am allowed to say that. I really appreciate that most of the Liberal Party is here, so we can go over, again, the scandal of PrescribeIT and Infoway, as $300 million has been lost into thin air. We do not know why because the health minister refuses to come speak to the committee about it. Also, the health minister has even said that Infoway needs to have an audit and does not want to secure its regular funding until there is an audit. There is no way that an organization like Infoway can run the program that is described in Bill S-5. I appreciate the fact that most of the Liberal Party is in the House right now and will address, hopefully soon, the problems with Infoway and PrescribeIT.”

“I want the budget to fund local projects in my area, including rebuilding the Red Bridge and a new fire hall in Barriere. I also want to know why the health minister refuses to show up at committee to answer questions about the prescription software program.”

“Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, and I am going to take this last opportunity to hope that the budget includes funding for things in Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola like the rebuilding and fast-tracking of the Red Bridge. The Liberals can groan all they want about the funding of the Red Bridge, but I will fight every single day for that funding, or for a new Barriere fire hall. It is always wonderful to ask for these types of things. The Liberals may groan, but I am here to fight for my constituents and common-sense measures. My colleague talked about the PrescribeIT scandal. The minister has not appeared at committee. What does it say to Canadians when a minister refuses to go to committee?”