Harper and health care

Health care looks like it's going to dominate today's headlines.

Speaking in Winnipeg, Harper said that one of the first things he'll do as PM would be to sit down with the provinces to figure out a plan to reduce wait times, eventually working towards a wait-time guarantee.

Layton is pulling the old "health card, not your credit card" routine.

Nothing from Martin yet, but that's no surprise because the Liberal strategy seems like it's to play defense, at least during the first week of the campaign.

I would have liked to hear Harper be more specific. How much is he willing to spend on health care, and what role does he see for provinces in experimenting with such ideas as private delivery within a publicly funded system, for example? Perhaps his ambiguity was calculated. I would think that's probable, because besides same-sex and abortion, this issue is the one that could be the most toxic to the Conservatives if they screw it up.