Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson says the premiers have agreed to accept the health-care funding deal offered to them by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, although they say it is far less than they had been asking for.
Stefanson, who currently chairs the premiers association known as the Council of the Federation, oversaw a virtual meeting on Monday where the premiers discussed last week’s offer of over $46 billion in new federal health-care spending over the next 10 years.
The new money means Ottawa will be sending a total of $196.1 billion in health-care funding to the provinces over the next decade.
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The offer was well shy of the premiers’ demand for Ottawa to increase its share of health spending from 22 per cent to 35 per cent.
Stefanson says the proposal amounts to about a two per cent increase.
Still, she says the provinces will accept the new money while continuing to work with Ottawa on a long-term plan to ensure the viability of Canada’s cherished health-care system.
Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc have been travelling across the country to meet with premiers and provincial health ministers since the offer was presented last week.
On Monday, the ministers sat down with leaders in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia to discuss their provinces’ individual health-care needs and where the new federal funding is needed most.
The conversations with provinces will shape individual bilateral agreements as part of the overall funding offer, which came with certain conditions including a requirement for modernization and sharing of health-care data for a national database.
More to come…
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