The premiers of the provinces and territories of Canada once again called for a reinvestment of the federal government in health transfers, on the sidelines of the Federation Council. Current contributions are considered unsuitable.
The provinces, led by Quebec, are thus repeating their request to increase federal health transfers by $ 28 billion in the 2021 budget, which will be presented in a few weeks. The various provinces believe that there is an inequity between federal contributions and the current state of health systems.
“The proportion of health spending supported by the federal government is falling, down to 22%. We want a 35% rebalancing, ”said Mr. Legault during a joint press briefing. This balancing results in a claim of $ 28 billion in health transfers per year.
Mr. Legault made this request for the first time in September, along with his counterparts from Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba. They hoped for an agreement in the run-up to the economic update tabled in November, without success.
“This is an important request to Mr. Trudeau, we want an increase in health transfers without conditions. It is important not to centralize and create problems in the management of provincial health. ” – François Legault, Premier of Quebec
François Legault explains that health costs increase by 5% per year and the federal contribution only by 3%. “Each year, this disparity increases, there is a problem of equity. The assumption of responsibility for the costs of care is 78% by the provinces and only 22% by the federal government, it is necessary to balance. “
François Legault indicates that there is an urgent need to act. “Currently, provinces and territories are having problems funding health care and it has worsened with the pandemic. It is believed that the solution is to increase these unconditional health transfers. “
The host of this press conference was Mr Legault in his capacity as President of the Council of the Federation. He was joined virtually by Premiers Doug Ford of Ontario, Jason Kenney of Alberta, Brian Pallister of Manitoba, John Horgan of British Columbia, Blaine Higgs of New Brunswick and Scott Moe of Saskatchewan.
Divergences with Justin Trudeau
The premiers do not agree with Mr. Trudeau’s position concerning conditional transfers: “We think that this does not respect the areas of jurisdiction of the provinces and territories. It is important not to centralize and create management problems in the Canadian federation. “
“The federal government is not participating enough, the opportunity is given in the next budget” – Jason Kenney, Premier of Alberta. “It is time to act” – adds François Legault
They also disapprove of Mr. Trudeau’s various announcements in recent months that he wants to deal first with the pandemic and then with health systems. “We are united here to preserve our health care systems, we must tackle this problem as of this federal budget. If so, all Canadians will be thankful, ”John Horgan, Premier of British Columbia.
Common front against the budget vote?
Insofar as the federal government does not take into account the requests of the provinces and territories in the next federal budget, the provinces have planned to repeat their request over and over again. For the moment, no political strategy is planned to refuse the budget but Mr. Legault has consulted the opposition parties. The Bloc Québécois and the NDP are ready to vote against while the Conservative Party is considering it.
Problems to be solved everywhere
The premier of Quebec takes as an example the investments of 500 million to hire staff in CHSLDs and the increase of 8,000 beneficiary attendants in the province. He wonders how these posts will be financed if health transfers do not increase.
Each of the Premiers illustrated these health management problems with concrete examples, late discovery of breast cancer, delays in surgeries, a shortage of nurses in Ontario or a very aging population in Atlantic Canada. All agree to demand a new policy.
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