Opinion polls consistently indicate that health care remains a main concern of Canadians, while health care expenditures now amount to 10.3% of Canada's gross domestic product, "the highest level in more than 30 years," according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Health care spending is now annually in the neighbourhood of $150 billion. In 2006, overall health spending increases outstripped inflation and population growth - for the tenth consecutive year.

An article about the political parties' responses (as well as their verbatim replies) is posted at cmaj/cgi/rapidpdf/cmaj.081460

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