Global Courant
OTTAWA –
The last time all of Canada’s prime ministers sat around the same table, their focus was on getting Ottawa to pay more to remedy the understaffing, hospitals, closed emergency departments, surgical backlogs and health worker shortages that threatened the viability of their health systems.
When they sit down in Winnipeg this week for their annual summer meeting, the focus will be more on using the new money that Ottawa has now promised.
After two years of provincial pleading and saber-rattle for a new health care deal, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finally put new money on the table at a Prime Ministerial meeting in Ottawa in February. That $46 billion deal fell far short of what the counties had asked for, but they had little choice but to accept it.
Dr. Kathleen Ross, president-elect of the Canadian Medical Association, said health should remain at the top of the agenda.
“We’re really at the peak of our challenges right now,” Ross said in an interview.
“We need to change the way we manage and deliver health care in Canada.”
Healthcare is expected to dominate the first day of the three-day meeting. Economic issues and affordability are also on the agenda.
Trudeau’s new health deal includes an increase in annual federal health transfers — which counties use to help pay for their health care systems — as well as money for yet-to-negotiate one-to-one agreements tailored to each county and territory to address their specific needs.
The money came with conditions: Each province and territory must set goals and timelines that will be used to demonstrate that the money is being used to improve access and care.
None of the provinces or territories have submitted their plans too far, and most of the new money is not expected to flow until they do.
Counties and territories will likely compare notes before handing over their plans to the federal government, Nunavut Health Secretary John Main said, but ultimately they will be unique to the challenges in each jurisdiction.
“Things are pretty fragile right now in terms of our staffing,” Main said of his territory.
“With the pandemic, it really changed the grassroots in terms of workforce, and we also saw a worsening of some types of public health issues that we deal with,” including mental health and tuberculosis.
Nunavut officially signed the deal on Thursday, as did the Northwest Territories and Yukon.
That leaves Quebec as the only one remaining to officially join the pact.
Setting goals is an unenviable task for counties, Ross said, but there are common areas the CMA would like to focus on.
They recommend a goal that includes clearing priority procedure backlogs within three years and eliminating emergency room closures. In many provinces, emergency departments, particularly in smaller communities, have been temporarily closed due to staff shortages.
Provinces and territories were critical of how much money Ottawa put on the table.
The prime minister’s deal will raise the federal share of health care costs from 22 percent to 24 percent next year, much less than the 35 percent the provinces and territories demanded.
“It’s the starting point,” Main said. “It’s positive to see more transfers, but is it enough? Not in my opinion.”
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos called the offer “quite generous on a number of different levels”.
Several provinces and territories are aiming to have their plan approved by the federal government by the end of the year, which means they may not receive much new funding until the new year.
Meanwhile, last week the federal government distributed $2 billion to provinces and territories to keep them afloat.
“That was in response to the fact that in recent weeks in particular we have seen emergency departments significantly impacted by unavailability of health personnel and backlogs in surgery and diagnostics,” Duclos said at a news conference Thursday.
Main said no county is likely to turn down one-time funds, but what they really need is long-term steady money so they can make long-term plans.
“We are looking for predictable funding flows so that we can plan where to direct resources and so that we have some certainty in terms of building out programs or bringing in additional staff capacity,” he said.
Prime ministers are expected to discuss publicly how they plan to handle the health crisis at the end of their meetings on Wednesday.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 9, 2023.
