Quebec is now – along with the three territories – the last province that has still not reached an agreement with Ottawa to secure an increase in federal health transfers.
However, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hinted on Wednesday that Quebec could sign an agreement sooner rather than later.
“We have now reached an agreement with nine provinces and plan to announce agreements with the last and three territories very soon,” he said during a news conference in British Columbia.
Mr. Trudeau was in the Western Province to announce an agreement in principle to transfer $27 billion over 10 years to support care in British Columbia.
At the same time, Health Secretary Jean-Yves Duclos traveled to Saskatchewan on Wednesday to unveil an agreement that would add an additional $111 million per year to a one-time payment of $61 million.
“Every deal reached represents another step in the right direction to improve health care delivery,” Mr. Trudeau said, reiterating that the federal government expects to receive more data on the performance of the provinces’ various health systems in exchange for additional funding.
However, the agreement left a bitter taste in Saskatchewan.
“It’s not enough. The Prime Minister [Scott] Moe and the other prime ministers agree, but it’s hard to turn down federal dollars,” provincial health minister Paul Merriman said.
The provinces had banded together for months to get Ottawa to increase federal funding for health care from 22% to 35%.
Provincial ministers, however, found an end to inadmissibility and, in turn, resigned themselves to signing bilateral agreements with the Trudeau government.