François Legault came away from his meeting with Justin Trudeau more confident than ever of reaching an agreement to increase federal funding for health care. In terms of infrastructure, Quebec and Ottawa have agreed to take their respective shares of the cost overruns of projects such as the Quebec tramway, the blue line in Montreal and the Lac-Mégantic ring road.
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We recall that the provinces have been asking Ottawa for several years to increase their contribution to the financing of their health system from 22% to 35%.
After two years of intense lobbying, the time has come for a meeting between Prime Minister Trudeau and his provincial counterparts, Legault believes.
“I really felt the desire to move forward on this dossier,” said the premier of Quebec, during a press briefing after a first official head-to-head – about an hour long – with his federal counterpart since the Oct. 3 elections .
Photo SWIMMING POOL The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson
“I admit that I am more confident today than I was before the meeting that we will have a meeting of the premiers of the provinces and territories with Mr. Trudeau and that we will reach an agreement. […] so that the federal government increases long-term funding for health care in the various provinces,” Legault said.
The CAQ leader indicated that his government “has no problem” sharing “already public data” with Ottawa regarding Quebec’s health network. He prefers this “compromise” to any other condition that the Trudeau government would like to impose in exchange for more generous funding.
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On the side of the Trudeau cabinet, there is more “a question of transparency” rather than a condition.
Roxham Road
The two prime ministers also discussed Roxham Road, where 98% of illegal entry into Canada takes place.
In particular, talks are underway with the Atlantic provinces and Ontario so that they can accommodate part of this migratory flow.
“I have heard an opening for some of these newcomers to be relocated to other provinces, because there is a certain urgency to act,” Legault said.
“We still have a good proportion of these people arriving via Roxham who are not really political refugees under the law, meaning their lives are not in danger in their own country,” he recalled.
Photo SWIMMING POOL The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson
“People who are not political refugees, we could take them back to their homes. It would take the pressure off services and then Frenchization,” she said.
The head of the CAQ insisted that Ottawa cut processing times for asylum applications. “It takes two years to complete the evaluation. I would rather aim for two months than two years,” Legault said.
In Mr. Trudeau’s entourage, if two years are recognized, “it is unacceptable”, “two months, it is too few”, one indicated at magazine.
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Infrastructure
In terms of infrastructure, in the current inflation environment, MM. Legault and Trudeau have agreed to take their respective shares of the construction cost increases seen with various projects in which their governments are partners.
“I am thinking, among other things, of the Québec tramway, the blue line in Montreal and then the construction of the Lac-Mégantic railway link”, listed Legault, without however quantifying the extent of the additional costs for these three projects. .
Photo SWIMMING POOL The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson
“We agreed that cost overruns would be assumed by the two governments in the same proportion agreed in the preliminary estimates,” Legault said.
For example, in the case of the streetcar, federal funding covered 40% of the project costs originally estimated at $3.365 billion. According to the latest reports, the bill for the project was about 4 billion dollars. The cost update expected by the end of December was postponed by Quebec City to the end of March.
In front of a coffee
MM. Trudeau and Legault first met at a café in Old Montreal, where they spoke briefly, on camera, with a few patrons in attendance.
During filming, they specified from the outset the agenda of their meeting, which took place in a conference room located in the hotel adjacent to the café.
Not surprisingly, issues related to the protection of the French language, infrastructure, health care and the environment top the list.
Mr. Legault took the opportunity to highlight the success of COP15 to protect nature, which concluded in Montreal. In particular, he has called on Ottawa to ensure that Quebec gets permanent Quebec representation in the Canadian delegation for future summits.
Photo SWIMMING POOL The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson
This meeting was originally scheduled last Friday, but Justin Trudeau’s entourage preferred to postpone it due to winter conditions that threatened to complicate his flight between Ottawa and Montreal.
– With the collaboration of The Canadian Press
