Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denies ignoring calls from Quebec and the Canadian provinces for a significant increase in health transfers of $28 billion annually.
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“I don’t think there is a prime minister in history who has sat down with prime ministers to talk about health care as much as I have in the last two years,” Justin Trudeau told the press in Kingston, Ontario .
The federal and provincial governments are waging a war of numbers and words over the funds Ottawa sends each year to fund health care.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault said he was offended that Justin Trudeau was delegating ministers to meet his demands after he left the Federation Council earlier this week.
recurring money
Mr. Trudeau argued that the federal government offered “$72 billion” in one-off assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic to help provinces fund health care.
However, in his opinion, money is not the only solution to solve this problem.
The Prime Minister of Canada wants the “dollars invested to show results” to reduce waiting lists, improve access to GPs and mental health care.
However, the provinces reject the idea of Ottawa imposing its funding terms.
She wants the federal government to regularly and unconditionally increase health care transfers by $28 billion.
Everything indicates that Ottawa wants to have a say in shaping provincial health priorities.
Justin Trudeau had promised to open the door to discussing health transfers once the pandemic is over.
But so far, the provinces remain on their appetites.
“We will continue to work together because health systems are under real pressure,” he offered.
Controversial turbines
Another hot-button issue, Prime Minister Trudeau on Wednesday justified bypassing Russian sanctions to allow the return of turbines from a Russian gas pipeline to Germany.
“It was a difficult decision, but we must not forget that the sanctions we have proposed are there to punish Putin and his friends, not our allies and the people of Europe,” Mr Trudeau said .
The turbines in question were blocked in Montreal due to sanctions after being repaired in Canada.
The return of the systems to Germany was sharply criticized by the Ukraine and the opposition in Ottawa.
This country and others in Europe are heavily dependent on Russian gas.
The owner of the gas pipeline, the Russian company Gazprom, covers 30% of Germany’s natural gas needs.
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