The federal government is impatient with the fact that no agreement has yet been reached on health transfers with the Quebec government, even though Quebec Prime Minister François Legault has verbally agreed to Ottawa’s offer for almost nine months.
Posted at 7:05 p.m.
Ugo Giguère and Émilie Bergeron The Canadian Press
“I understand that people – and certainly I – want the deal to happen soon,” federal Health Minister Mark Holland told The Canadian Press during a press briefing.
He promised that the details of each agreement would soon be agreed between levels of government for several provinces. Earlier this month, British Columbia became the first province to sign a final bilateral agreement on federal health transfers.
“There will be many agreements with the other provinces,” the minister said in French, arguing that these agreements are “complex.”
Ottawa already has agreements in principle with all provinces and territories except Quebec, where there are still “issues” to be resolved, Mr. Holland said last Wednesday.
“For me it’s really not a question of jurisdiction, not at all,” he clarified.
According to him, “It’s really a question of visibility.” [l’]Investing money in the system.
“What is the result of this?” And also for Quebecers: [on doit] We make sure the results are visible,” Holland added.
Last February, the provinces and territories, through the Council of Federation, agreed to a new agreement with Ottawa to increase federal health transfers by $46.2 billion over 10 years.
Asked about the issue, Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé reiterated that Ottawa wanted to impose “conditions” in exchange for the money transfer. The government of François Legault has said from the start that it wants to prevent Ottawa from interfering in its area of responsibility, namely health, at all costs.
“Some of my colleagues, who are perhaps better than me, managed to reach an unconditional agreement on housing and daycare. “In an area as important as health, I see no reason why we should be forced to accept conditions,” he continued.
However, the four conditions agreed upon by Ottawa and the Council of the Federation are already priorities of the Coalition Avenir Québec government. This includes improving access to a GP; Supporting healthcare workers and reducing surgical waiting lists; improving access to mental health and addiction services; and increase access to digital data about the health of the health network.
When the increase in federal transfers was announced, François Legault summarized his position as saying that it was “better than nothing” but that he wanted to express his dissatisfaction in the hope of achieving even more.
Quebec’s share is around 10 billion, a billion more per year, while Mr. Legault called for an annual increase of 6 billion.
Ministers Christian Dubé, Eric Girard and Jean-François Roberge also signed a letter to the federal government stating: “Quebec intends to use its share of federal funds.”
The Canadian Press health content is funded through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. The Canadian Press is solely responsible for editorial selection.