Liberals pressed by opposition MPs on unfulfilled health-care promises

OTTAWA – Opposition MPs grilled Liberal cabinet ministers Tuesday, trying to determine when billions in promised health care spending will start flowing to provinces and territories.

During the 2021 campaign, the Liberals promised funding for the hiring of 7,500 family doctors and a Canada Mental Health Transfer worth $4.5 billion. More recently, the government has said it is prepared to increase health-care transfers to the provinces, provided they agree to several key conditions.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and Mental Health Minister Carolyn Bennett both appeared before the House of Commons health committee on Tuesday.

Conservative MP Stephen Ellis, a former physician, said he wants to know when Canadians will see the doctors and nurses the government has promised working in their communities.

“I’m looking for an answer on behalf of all Canadians, and perhaps most specifically on behalf of the 100,000 Nova Scotians without access to primary care,” he said.

Duclos didn’t answer the question directly, but said the government has supported the provinces on hiring, citing an additional $2 billion provided to help clear backlogs, and other inflationary increases in the Canada Health Transfer.

“That all supported the efforts of provinces and territories to hire, recruit and retain more of our health care workers,” he said.

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The federal government has been locked in negotiations with the provinces over a potential increase in the Canada Health Transfer, money the federal government sends to every province on a per-capita basis. Ottawa currently sends just over $45 billion to the provinces every year, with that figure rising by at least three per cent each year. The provinces want the Liberals to ramp up that transfer considerably, sending $28 billion more per year for health care.

In meetings earlier this month, Duclos made it clear the government is willing to bring more money to the table, but only if the provinces agreed to work on a workforce strategy and a unified approach to health care data that would allow for things like electronic medical records.

Duclos was asked Tuesday by NDP Health Critic Don Davies if he put a specific number on the table with his provincial counterparts, but he didn’t reveal one.

The provinces charge that the federal government only provides 22 per cent of the health care dollars in the system, while Duclos said if you include tax points the federal government transferred to the provinces it is much higher.

“The total support from the federal government into health care is about 35 per cent. It went up during COVID-19 and is now back around 35 per cent,” he said.

Duclos said that number is a “futile debate,” however because the federal government is willing to do more, if provinces are willing to accept some basic strings on the cash. He said he believed they were close to a deal earlier this month, but premiers are only interested in talking about money.

“Everyone was on the same page. Unfortunately, the premiers asked my colleagues, fellow Health Ministers, to stop speaking about results and outcomes that matter to Canadians and only speak about dollars.”

Conservative MP Laila Goodridge asked Bennett about the promised Canadian Mental Health Transfer, which the Liberals promised they would create during the 2021 campaign. The transfer was meant to complement existing health transfers, but be focused on mental health supports.

Goodridge said lack of mental health supports is leading some people to the emergency room to seek care.

“We’re actually seeing a crisis right now in our emergency rooms. The time to act was six months ago or six years ago,” she said. “It’s critical we get this done now.”

Bennett pointed to money previously announced in 2017, which she said is making a difference, while the government aims to negotiate with the provinces over the new proposed funding.

“$600 million a year is going now annually and we are working with the provinces and territories on the design of a new program,” she said.

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