Feds, provinces need to ‘sit down like adults’ on health spending: B.C. premier

Health spending was a top priority during the meeting of premiers in Canada.

However, the spotlight got turned on the federal government, as B.C.’s premier pushed back against suggestions that provincial and territorial jurisdictions are fudging their numbers when it comes to what they’d like to see from the federal government.

The suggestion came from Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who called provincial numbers “fake” and said they didn’t take a bunch of federal spending into account.

Premier John Horgan says it’s time for Ottawa to stop “quibbling” about health-care funding and begin talks to re-imagine the system.

“This was the issue when I arrived and it’s the issue as I leave,” said Horgan “The federal government has refused to come and sit down with us and engage with us about what they believe the best way forward is.”

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In a Q&A session after the first day of the Council of the Federation in Victoria, Horgan said Canadians expect them to “sit down like adults” and figure things out.

“The whole continuum of care needs to be revisited, and now’s the time to do that. We as a council — I’ve been at the table for five years — and the number one issue when I arrived was health care, and I’m leaving five years later and the number one issue is health care,” Horgan, the chair of the council, said Monday.

He said it was “disingenuous at best” to say the federal government is pulling its weight when it comes to funding public health in Canada.

“It’s just not the case,” Horgan affirmed. “I’d be delighted to meet Mr. LeBlanc anywhere, anytime, halfway. If that’s where he wants to meet, I’m happy to go there. But we’re nowhere right now, absolutely nowhere.”

Gaps in health care have been made more apparent throughout the pandemic, with systems brought to their limits amid increased hospitalizations and demand for care. Those working in health care have also been raising the alarm for months, saying a shortage of doctors and nurses is putting Canadians at risk.

Premiers have been calling for the federal government to increase its share of health-care spending from 22 to 35 per cent to help improve the system nation-wide.

“Now, we can quibble about the numbers but Canadians will not thank us for that. We can quibble about who’s right and who’s wrong on the nuance, but Canadians won’t thank us for that. What Canadians want us to do is to sit down, like adults, and figure out how we resurrect publicly funded health care,” Horgan added Monday.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault, who was also asked to comment on the suggestion from LeBlanc, notes the amounts the federal government contributed were “non-recurrent.”

“What we’re talking about is recurrent amounts and provinces, we spend about $200 billion a year for health services and the federal government is giving us about $40 billion, which represents 22 per cent. In Quebec, Quebecers they pay 40 per cent of their taxes to the federal government,” he explained. “So it’s important that [the federal government] shares more than 22 per cent because health is the only expense growing at a rate of five to six per cent a year because of aging and because of the impact of new technology. We cannot afford to continue like we’re doing right now.”

The head of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is imploring the premiers to work together and move the conversation beyond just getting more money.

While increased funding is crucial, Dr. Katherine Smart with the CMA says it’s just as important to reimagine and transform health care.

“What I am really hoping to hear from them is the severity of the issue, the fact that this is a pan-Canadian problem, that it’s going to need unprecedented levels of cooperation between provincial and territorial governments and the federal government.”

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Smart says there’s a need for clear short, medium, and long-term strategies to improve the staffing and structure of health care.

“What would go a long way to that would be the government coming to the table, owning the problem collectively, and inviting providers themselves to be part of the solutions and listening to them, in terms of what they need.”

She suggests national licensing to health care workers can easily cross provincial borders. Longer-term, she would like to see centralized referrals and waitlists, as well as hospital funding models to incentivize care over saving money.

Tuesday was the second and final day of the Council of the Federation meeting between the premiers in B.C.

-With files from The Canadian Press