"I was disappointed," the premier said after Tuesday's discussions in Ottawa resulted in an offer of $5 billion less than what Quebec wanted.
QUEBEC — A disappointed Premier François Legault said Wednesday that he will continue to fight for a larger health transfer from the federal government after coming up short Tuesday in Ottawa.
And he invited Quebecers to “take into account” Ottawa’s refusal to funnel more money to the provinces when they go to the polls in the next federal election.
Sign up to receive daily headline news from the Montreal Gazette, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
Thanks for signing up!
A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of Montreal Gazette Headline News will soon be in your inbox.
“It’s better than nothing, but it’s not enough for sure,” Legault told reporters at a news conference before question period at the legislature. “I will continue to fight to get more.”
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered a total of $46.1 billion more over 10 years in new funding for health care to the provinces — much less than they have been requesting for the last 2 1/2 years.
The deal translates to $1 billion more a year for Quebec. The province was hoping for an additional $6 billion a year.
There is another $25 billion available for one-on-one deals with the provinces, but that money must be spent on specific needs, such as mental health care, family doctors and recruiting health-care workers.
“It was a long day; I was disappointed,” Legault said. “It does not solve the structural problem (of health-care financing).”
Legault did not say for sure whether he would accept the amount on the table. He said he and the other premiers and territorial leaders will be meeting again soon to discuss the fine print of the federal offer.
He said he wants to protect the common front of provinces in continuing to ask more of the federal government.
But he suggested he will take the money anyway. Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard is already in the midst of drafting his spring budget.
“We wanted $6 billion a year, we got $1 billion,” Legault said. “I like the $1 billion, which we will put in the budget.”
On the positive side, he noted that Ottawa agreed to increase the rate of indexation in the transfer from three to five per cent a year for the next five years. The money comes with no strings attached, Legault said, except for the sharing of health indicators with the federal government.
Ottawa, he added, was financing a total of 22 per cent of the costs of the health system before the deal. That number now will be closer to 24 per cent. The provinces had asked Ottawa to pay 35 per cent of the costs.
Both Legault and Girard said that with some juggling, Quebec will be able to manage the cost of the system without Ottawa’s additional boost.
“It’s just that it will be more difficult when we look at balancing Quebec’s finances,” Legault said. “Obviously, it will affect our deficit.”
“It’s a missed opportunity for the federal government to correct its historical contribution to health care in Canada,” Girard told reporters.
“Now that we don’t have what we were expecting, we’ll make some arrangements with finance to make sure we can realize our plan,” added Health Minister Christian Dubé.
Reacting to opposition parties that accused him of being too docile about a deal, Legault said it will be up to voters to remember this in the next election.
“Canadians and Quebecers have to understand what the federal government is doing makes no sense, that the federal government needs to do its part,” Legault said. “It’s not just Quebec.”
But the opposition was without mercy, accusing Legault of caving in.
“The premier had one job to do: Go to Ottawa to get the money we need to improve our health system,” Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois said in question period later. “He came back empty-handed.”
“It’s unacceptable,” interim Liberal leader Marc Tanguay told reporters. “François Legault must not say he is satisfied with the result. He has to go to Ottawa to get our share. He has to think of the patients on waiting lists.”
Liberal health critic André Fortin said he expected more of a fight from the premiers than what he saw on television.
Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said it’s clear in his mind that Legault’s negotiating strategy has been a complete failure.
He called on Legault to recognize sovereignty would be the path to fixing the health system.
“I have difficulty believing that when François Legault went to bed last night, he did not have in mind that independence is our only option at this stage,” St-Pierre Plamondon said.
pauthier@postmedia.com
twitter.com/philipauthier