A Canada Strong and Free

I just got back from a speech by Preston Manning and Mike Harris, sponsored by the Fraser Institute of Canada. Together, they've come up with some interesting visions and ideas for Canada. Here is a summary of their two main visions:

1. Better Health Care for Canadians
Recommendations include substantially amending or replacing the Canada Health Act to transfer responsibility for health-care delivery and financing to the provinces; expand health care facilities and cut waiting times by removing all restrictions that prevent the use of private capital, non-governmental providers; focus federal support for health care in the areas it can do the most; and reduce the federal income-tax rate from 16% to 15% for the lowest bracket, and eliminate the two brackets above it (which would give the provinces expanded room to finance health care).

In other words, we advocate freeing up the provinces and the private sector to innovate in order to resolve the current health-care crisis and meet future health-care needs. Health-care systems around the world - for example, the health-care systems of Sweden, Japan, Australia, and France -- allow more individual freedom and responsibility while at the same time guaranteeing everyone, regardless of income, access to high levels of care. National health-care standards will be set by inter-provincial agreement through the new Council of Federation, wiht Federal equalization payments assisting have-not provines to meet those standards.

2. Improve the Economic Well-Being of Canadians

....if the Canadian economy were to grow by just under 5% per year (as predicted by the Department of Finance), while the overall growth in total government spending were kept to less than 3.1% (which is above the combined rate of predicted inflation and population growth of 2.6% per year), this dramatic increase in the proportion of GDP held by individuals, families, businesses, and NGOs -- equal to $79.45 billion -- could be accomplished within 6 years.

In future publications, they will deal with "democratic freedoms and responsibilities" and international trade, defence, and foreign policy initiatives.

You can download the entire publication from this link.