Trudeau and Horgan speak on health payments, flood response

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has spoken with B.C. Premier John Horgan about how provinces and territories can deal with the surge of cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Horgan chairs the Council of Federation, which is made up of all the premiers of each of Canada’s provinces and territories. The group is aimed at providing a united front when dealing with the federal government.

While details of any specific promises were kept behind closed doors Tuesday, Trudeau’s office says the meeting was a “touch base” on several issues, including the ongoing pandemic.

The premiers have been pushing for an increase to Canada Health Transfer payments to deal with the health care costs of COVID-19, but the prime minister has so far made no promise to do so.

His office has outlined more will be discussed in a larger meeting next week with all the premiers, and that the continued work to beat COVID-19 will be top of the agenda.

I touched base with @JJHorgan today. We agreed to keep working together to beat COVID-19 and make sure people have the support they need right now. We also talked about supporting BC’s rebuilding efforts after the severe weather in November. More here: https://t.co/vcwevaIRq6

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 5, 2022

Many provinces and territories are currently facing surging COVID-19 cases due to the highly-transmissive Omicron variant.

Many governments have imposed further restrictions and lockdowns as a result.

In Ontario, gyms, cinemas, theatres, and indoor dining at restaurants have been closed as of Wednesday. In Quebec, a curfew has been brought in, all gatherings are banned, and many businesses have shut down.

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Trudeau’s office says he also spoke with Horgan about the response to the destructive floods which hit B.C. in mid-November, leaving several major highways unusable.

In the months since, many farmers have appealed for federal support saying they have lost millions of dollars and most of them couldn’t be insured.

It’s not clear what promises were made from the prime minister in regards to more ongoing financial relief plans for those impacted by the floods in southern B.C.