The Canadian Snowbird Association (CSA) is aware that you and other provincial and territorial leaders will be discussing the future of the Canadian health-care system this summer at the Council of the Federation meeting. The CSA is a national non-partisan, not-for-profit organization dedicated to actively defending and improving the rights and privileges of Canadian travellers. Our members, the majority of whom are retirees living on limited and fixed incomes, continue to pay taxes and applicable health-care premiums in Canada. Although we travel, we do not shirk our responsibility or commitment to our country. Access to and funding of health care is crucial to our members, and even minor policy changes have serious and longlasting effects. The CSA respectfully requests that you defend the Canada Health Act and its integral principles of portability and universality at the Council of the Federation meeting.

The CSA is opposed to the Romanow Commission recommendation that health care stop at the border. Portability is a key aspect of the mobility rights of Canadians, yet the Romanow report, Building on Values, states that "the principle of portability should be limited to supporting mobility within Canada and it should, in the future, be strictly enforced." This position is short sighted. Snowbirds lead proactive, healthy lives that reduce waiting lists for medical appointments and diagnostic tests, and increase the availability of hospital and emergency department beds. Just some of the ways that snowbirds reduce the burden on Canada's publicly-funded health-care system are the reduction of:

• Cardiac conditions attributed to activities such as snow-shovelling.
• Orthopaedic injuries and chronic debilitation attributed to slip/fall incidents.
• Respiratory infections attributed to colder climates.

The CSA respectfully requests that you oppose the Romanow recommendation and defend the integral Canada Health Act principle of portability. Universal funding of health-care cannot be realized without increased federal funding, and the CSA fully supports you and the leaders of the provinces and territories in your federal funding efforts. Universality is an integral principle of the Canada Health Act. Out-of-country health care should receive the same funding as provincial and territorial health care. The elimination of the so-called Romanow gap in federal funding would be a first step in the renewal of fair and equitable treatment of travelling Canadians. A return to the longstanding spirit of the 50-50 funding is our goal. The CSA fully supports you in seeking further federal funding, and respectfully requests that you defend the integral Canada Health Act principle of universality.

As a leader this summer at the Council of the Federation meeting, the CSA urges you to defend and improve the rights of travelling Canadians. We ask that you affirm your commitment to the Canada Health Act and its integral principles of portability and universality. As the newly elected president of the Canadian Snowbird Association, I would welcome the opportunity to meet briefly with you, to introduce you to our association, and to discuss our concerns as travelling Canadians.

Yours truly,