Ottawa’s share of health-care funding to be top concern at premiers’ meeting in B.C.

A group representing emergency room doctors across the country has a message for Canada’s premiers: come up with a coordinated plan to prevent their workplaces from being closed due to staffing shortages that are creating an unprecedented crisis in health care.

Dr. Atul Kapur, a spokesman for the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, said premiers gathering at a meeting in Victoria on Monday and Tuesday need to prioritize the recruitment and retention of health-care professionals, and not just in the short-term.

This is the first in-person of the premiers at the Council of the Federation since before the pandemic began.

“We’ve been sounding the alarm about shortages of physicians and nurses for quite some time,” Kapur said, adding the temporary closure of emergency rooms is particularly troubling in rural areas because the next closest ER is often far away.

One of the biggest gaps in the health-care system is the lack of nurses, said Kapur, an ER doctor in Ottawa.

“We recognize that our nursing colleagues are vital, that in (emergency) especially, the stresses on them are even more than they are on us because they bear more of the brunt of patient and family anger than we do.”

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Data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows admitted patients across Canada waited 38.3 hours in emergency rooms in 2019-2020, up from 29.3 hours five years earlier. The total number of visits spiked to nearly 1.6 million during that time, up from just over 1.1 million.

The figures apply to 90 per cent of patients, and Kapur said 10 per cent waited even longer.

Premiers to push Prime Minister on health-care spending

British Columbia Premier John Horgan, chair of the Council of the Federation made up of the country’s 13 premiers, has joined his colleagues to call on the federal government to increase its share of health-care spending from 22 to 35 per cent as they try to implement initiatives aimed at improving the system.

Hamish Telford in the Political Science Department at the University of the Fraser Valley sayse they’ve been beating that drum loudly.

“Create a public demand to make this Justin Trudeau’s problem. And Justin Trudeau has sort of said all along that a) the federal government spends a lot on healthcare, they already do at $42 million a year, but they would be willing to spend more on particular sorts of items,” Telford said.

Horgan said he met with Justin Trudeau last November when the prime minister visited British Columbia following catastrophic floods.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and B.C. Premier John Horgan meet in Vancouver on Tuesday March 29th, 2022. (CityNews Image)Trudeau committed to assembling a team to work on health funding, but that has not yet materialized, Horgan said in an interview.

“Eight months of what I thought was going to be a concerted effort has produced nothing other than a meeting in Victoria where all of us will gather to express our profound disappointment at the lack of leadership from Ottawa,” he said.

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Trudeau has said the federal share of spending on health-care transfers would be negotiated after the COVID-19 pandemic winds down.

Horgan, who criticized April’s federal budget for not including health funding, said he and his colleagues are ready to address Ottawa’s expectations of any accountability measures that would come with more money.

But premiers first need to know what types of “strings” will be attached to it, he said, adding national solutions are needed to deal with problems plaguing provinces and territories.

But Horgan suggested he was not in favour of jurisdictions working together to nationally license health-care professionals, allowing them to work anywhere in the country, because that would amount to “poaching” people after their training has been paid for.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said his province has an ambitious plan to rebuild its health-care system, and the federal government can help by paying its fair share of health funding.

“The premiers have been asking the federal government to come to the table and be a true funding partner,” he said in a written statement.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said that when universal health care was implemented in Canada, it was envisioned as a 50-per-cent split between the federal and provincial governments.

“COVID-19 showed the weaknesses in Canada’s health-care system, and we need to address those weaknesses for Canadians,” he said in a statement.

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Some premiers have indicated they will focus on other priorities at the meeting.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said during a recent news conference he wants to address issues with Canada’s energy supply.

“The No. 1 ask would be to have a very serious look at the policy positions that the government of Canada is taking that are preventing … production of some of the most sustainable energy in the world,” Moe said.

Kenney said the premiers will also be discussing internal trade and how they can address the tens of billions of dollars in economic activity lost every year due to barriers put up by provinces.

Canada’s “historic labour shortage” is also a concern for Ford. Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson echoed the sentiment, saying lower immigration during the pandemic has contributed to the problem.

“We need the federal government to work with us to tackle the labour shortfall to help ensure our economy remains strong during these challenging times,” Ford said in a statement.

Also on the agenda, the premiers will be meeting with with leaders of five Indigenous groups that are part of the National Indigenous Organizations which is being hosted by the Songhees Nation for the first time ever.

— With files from Azzaya Khan, Steve Lambert in Winnipeg and Colette Derworiz in Edmonton