The man charged with fixing medicare challenged his own party to find the funding if it wants to see enhanced medical services such as federal coverage for drugs.

Roy Romanow, former NDP premier of Saskatchewan, told the federal New Democratic Party caucus yesterday that his one-person commission is considering a recommendation to the federal government that it think about including pharmacare in an enhanced system. He added, however, that he wants to know from the federal NDP and other groups how to pay for such services, given limited dollars.

"If your question is: Am I looking at pharmacare as a program which needs to be carefully examined for possible inclusion in the system, the answer is yes," Mr. Romanow said.

"The question now is how to do it."

He told the caucus that although NDP notions such as pharmacare and more federal funds for home care make sense, he wonders how the government will pay for them.

"What of the sustainability issue? Resources are not infinite," he said. "Most importantly, how do we pay for all of these things which are being advocated in your brief?"

Mr. Romanow's blunt questions appeared to be an effort to shield himself from criticism that he is biased in the direction of the views of his party. Some of his critics, including members of the Canadian Alliance, have suggested that his commission has already made its mind up about the direction it wishes to go.

In a later interview, Mr. Romanow said he wants to test the NDP's philosophy on issues such as the mix of the private and public content within the system, as well as financing. Mr. Romanow will also meet with the other caucuses in Parliament.

The former premier asked whether the NDP would seek open up the Canada Health Act, the document used by the federal government to apply penalties to provinces that violate medicare. The party's House Leader, Bill Blaikie, said Mr. Romanow should open up the act only if his intent is to expand services.

"If you open it up with the idea that all that's going to be left at the end of the day is everything Alberta agrees to, then don't ever open it up," Mr. Blaikie said. "Because then you end up with the Kyotoization of medicare." (Mr. Blaikie was referring to the Alberta government's opposition to the Kyoto accord on greenhouse gasses.)

Also yesterday, one of the senior civil servants who helped build medicare during the 1960s said the federal government can no longer blame the provinces for the difficulties in health care.

"For a long time, the federal government was extremely successful in cutting down what it had promised about health care but still blaming the problems on the provinces," Tom Kent said. "That's over now. I think people do realize that the cuts in federal support have a lot to do with what's gone wrong."

He said that the provinces have done much to improve medicare without more federal funding.

Mr. Kent urged Mr. Romanow to make sure his report is clear or the federal government might not take it seriously.