INTERVIEW
“PRIMARY
CONCERN OF THE LIBERALS WILL BE THE CANADIAN HEALTH SYSTEM”
An
exclusive conversation with the Hon. Jim Karygiannis, MP, Parliamentary
Assistance to the Minister of Transportation of Canada.
By
Thomas S. Saras
Q.:Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today.
A.:
Thanks very much for the opportunity to talk with you about the number one
issue facing Canadians in this campaign.
I know and Paul Martin knows that health care is important to
voters in our Canadian
Greek community.
Q.:
How would you define Paul Martin’s new plan for Health Care reform to
the people of our community?
A.:
We know that the people of our Canadian Greek community want to end the
constant bickering over health care.
All Canadians expect governments to get on with fixing the system
and we’re going to do that, with this plan as our starting point.
It really is a “fix for a generation”.
Q.:Will
this just be government pouring more money into a broken system?
A.:
We’re not going to do that. Paul
Martin’s plan will focus on five specific goals and the money it takes
to meet those goals will be there. Let
me walk you through the parts of the plan. First, an additional $3 billion will go to the provinces to
cover the gap identified in the 2002 Romanow report.
Second, we are going to cut waiting times by working with the
provinces on five types of care – cancer, heart, imaging like MRIs,
replacing joints and restoring sight. By 2009 we will cut the wait in each
of these areas to a level that experts tell us is medically appropriate.
This plan will get $4 billion. Third,
we need more primary care providers and we’ll work with the provinces
for more spots in the medical schools and a program to help 1000 new
Canadians with foreign medical training gain qualification for this
country. These are
often members of our Canadian Greek community, who are trained but not
allowed to practice here, we’re going to change that.
Fourth, we will create a new $2 billion fund to assist the
provinces with Home Care- supporting patients and their families to
provide the care that is best for them in the comfort of their homes.
Fifth, we’ll work with the provinces to get a National drug
coverage plan in place by 2006. And finally, Paul Martin is going to take the politics out of
the Canada Health Act by creating a group of outside experts to deal with
any disputes that arise.
Q.:
Can the government afford it?
A.:
Yes. We will not raise taxes
to pay for the plan, Paul Martin has been clear about that.
As with all of the ideas the Liberals talk about over the next few
weeks, this plan fully adds up in our balanced platform.
The Paul Martin team knows how important healthcare is to Canadians
and we really can’t afford not to fix things.
This is such an important issue and you’ll hear various plans but
voters need to pay special attention. We can have a great healthcare
system but I’d be concerned about its future with anything like the
Alliance-Conservative’s US-style tax plan- something would have to be
cut.
Q.:
Do you think the Liberal plan will work?
A.:
It’s going to be a tough job but this is a great start and Paul Martin
has said he’ll sit down with the premiers this summer and do what it
takes to get us there. We
have fantastic people working in the healthcare industry, that’s obvious
with a visit to any hospital in our Canadian Greek community and by all
working together we will reform and renew this system.
We’ll get it done and I know the best person to lead us through
this is Paul Martin. He was
successful when he was fighting the deficits and now he is focussed on
healthcare and his plan will work.
Q.: Thank you very much for your time to inform us about these very serious questions.
A.:
I thank you Tom for the opportunity to communicate with the members of the
Greek Canadian communities of Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and all these
“Patrides” publication is reaching.
