Day admitted later that the Alliance would permit more private facilities in Canada but said patients would not have to pay for services. However, no one seemed to take him at his word. I am pleased the truth is out. NDP Leader Alexa McDonough joined the chorus of criticism directed at Day but she also accused the Liberals of setting Canada on the road to two-tier health care as a result of sweeping and damaging cuts to medicare in the 1990s. Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe also attacked Alliance health care policies.
Polls consistently show that health care is the top issue in the minds of voters across the country.