Concerns that Canada’s health care system could collapse if feds don’t increase funding
Posted July 13, 2022 7:24 am.
In a rare, united front, Canada’s premiers are expressing their anger with the federal government over what they call a lack of communication and a lack of health care funding to keep the system from crumbling.
This comes at a time when COVID cases and hospitalizations are increasing once again nation-wide.
All 13 premiers have wrapped up two days of talks in Victoria, B.C., with the main goal of nailing down a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to discuss this issue, but that has not happened.
In a joint news conference held Tuesday in the B.C. capital, the provincial and territorial leaders all showed signs of frustration with the lack of movement on health care — a system which has seen its cracks deepen during the pandemic.
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B.C. Premier John Horgan, who chairs the Council of the Federation, says they want a national framework so provinces aren’t forced to poach health care workers from other jurisdictions.
“We don’t want to quibble about the money. We want to get at the table to talk to the federal government. If they’re not acknowledging and recognizing the crisis in communities across the country, they’re asleep at the switch, quite frankly, and we invite them to come and talk to us about how we can work together to get the outcomes Canadians deserve,” he said.
The premiers want Ottawa to permanently increase its share of funding and raise it from 22 to 35 per cent.
They’re also stunned that after months of trying to get the federal government to talk about this, suddenly the federal health minister is floating the idea in the media that now is the time to talk.
“Again, I use the word ‘disingenuous.’ Mr. [Jean-Yves] Duclos has had an opportunity to have those discussions with us for eight months and now, as we gather in Victoria, to talk about how we go forward, to say, ‘I got an idea, why don’t we talk about outcomes?’ That’s what we told them eight months ago. We shared a basket of initiatives with them, and nothing came back. Nothing came back,” Horgan said.
“So, with the greatest respect to the federal ministers, who are now suggesting that everything is fine, go and talk to human beings, go and talk to patients, go and talk to health care providers and they’ll get a different message. We are echoing what people are telling us in our communities across the country.”
Quebec Premier François Legault says the provinces and territories can no longer afford to cover the majority of health care costs.
“Health care expenses in Canada right now, it’s over $200 billion a year. What we’re asking for is to meet the prime minister. It’s a real problem. It’s the most important problem in Canada, so I don’t understand why Mr. Trudeau doesn’t want to meet us and it’s a bit insulting,” he said.
Dr. Ramneek Dosanjh, the head of Doctors of B.C., applauds the premiers for calling out the federal government. She also reiterates the lack of talks are dragging on as about one-million British Columbians still don’t have a family doctor.
“I think the need is pretty clear. The numbers are growing that don’t have access to a family doctor. I’m hearing by the day that we’re having shortages and ERs are closing and the fundamental route of our health care system is in dire need, and this is a very urgent, pressing matter for all of our British Columbians and health is definitely a priority,” she told CityNews.
Dosanjh fears people living in B.C. can no longer wait for the money to roll in.
“We know and hear from our patients and we’re hearing stories from our patients that have lack of access to care, lack of access to timely care, and right now, emergency and urgent care and their health cannot wait,” Dosanjh explained.
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“We’ve got patients with cancer that can’t get their diagnosis and treatment in an efficient and timely manner. We can’t get scans. People are not getting their surgeries done on time. We’ve got increased surgical wait lists and truly, we need to be representative of a first-world health care system.”
She says B.C. has “unique problems,” when it comes to health care and notes the ongoing staffing crunch is playing a factor in things potentially going from bad to worse.
“We can’t take more risk of attrition of our health care human resources. We know doctors, and nurses and front-line staff are finding it hard to navigate, but really, this is about our patients. Our British Columbians deserve better health care and that begins with really making some clear actions.”
Dosanjh hopes the two-day summit has reinforced the need for health care and how much of a priority it needs to be made.
“We have an ability to deliver the best care and I think we definitely need to put our minds together with collaborative solutions and bring doctor’s voices to the table as well as patient’s voices to the table.”
