As preparations are underway for the anticipated health-care "working meeting" between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canada's premiers on Tuesday, new details are emerging about what some provinces are expecting.
Trudeau is expected to come into the afternoon meeting with a detailed two-hour presentation of what the federal government is ready to put on the table, though he’s already signalled he doesn’t expect to leave with signed agreements.
Overall, the gathering between federal, provincial and territorial governments will be focused on discussing long-term funding deals that will see billions of additional dollars put into health-care systems across the country, in exchange for improved care.
But how this will look in each case is expected to vary.
In Ontario, for example, senior provincial government sources tell CTV News they are working towards a bilateral deal that would see Canada's most populous province receive $73 billion over 10 years. Of this, approximately $30 billion would be new money, equating to approximately $3 billion in increased funding annually.
The sources CTV News spoke with indicated that Ontario views this proposal positively, and while they aren’t coming to Ottawa ready to sign, they don't want a long delay before coming to an agreement.
This push is motivated by what the sources said was regret around being the last holdout province to sign a bilateral child-care deal, in hopes of getting more out of the federal government.
Not all provinces appear to be coming to the table as ready and eager to accept a deal in short order, however. According to provincial sources there is some expectation that Saskatchewan and Quebec are gearing up for a fight, seeking to get more out of the federal government before signing on the dotted line.
CTV News is also hearing from sources that there is some pressure on the Ontario government to try to push for more out of the gate, specifically from Saskatchewan. Though, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford has recently spoken about how the premiers need to "stay united," pressure from Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe doesn't appear to be swaying him, according to sources.
Premiers are gathering in the nation's capital on Monday evening, for a meeting ahead of their sit-down with Trudeau, and Chair of the Council of the Federation and Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson has scheduled a pre-First Ministers Meeting media availability on Tuesday morning.
In a statement issued a week ago, Stefanson said that a federal proposal had not yet been received by the premiers, and that the meeting would "mark the beginning of the direct… dialogue and follow-up required to achieve the significant investment and outcomes expected by all Canadians on this fundamental priority."
A MEETING MONTHS IN THE MAKING
Tuesday's meeting to discuss reaching cross-Canada health-care funding deals comes as hospitals and health-care facilities appear to be in crisis mode, and after premiers began indicating their willingness to agree to funding with strings attached.
For some time the premiers have been putting pressure on the federal government to increase the amount of money Ottawa provides through the federal-provincial funding arrangement known as the Canada Health Transfer (CHT).
These calls have been met by Trudeau acknowledging that, while systems across the country are "strained, if not broken," any influx in funding has to come with provinces and territories agreeing to be accountable for delivering improved systems and access in return.
SHARED METRICS CENTRAL TO THESE DEALS
As the situation stands, it appears that the federal government is looking at reaching both a nationwide agreement — perhaps on data and health information sharing — as well as signing long-term bilateral deals on a province-by-province basis that include specific metrics relevant to each system's needs, rather than just dumping new funding solely into the CHT.
The shared priorities that both the federal government and premiers have been discussing include:
- Timely access to family health teams;
- Reducing backlogs in surgeries and diagnostics;
- Retaining, recruiting, and recognizing the credentials of health-care workers;
- Investing in mental health; and
- Modernizing the health information system so medical records can be shared with various providers, electronically.
"We don't think applying a one-size-fits-all across the country is the best way to do it. But, there will be elements of what we're working on that will be an agreement with the entire country," Trudeau told reporters during a press conference during a pre-Parliament retreat in Hamilton, Ont., on Jan. 25.
More to come…
With files from CTV News Chief Political Correspondent Vassy Kapelos and Senior Political Correspondent for CTV News Channel Mike Le Couteur
