Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says Canadians are “frustrated and scared” by the significant strain facing the country’s health care system, stressing that federal and provincial governments must find solutions, rather than relying on dollars focus.
Freeland’s comments come as Canada’s premiers are set to make a joint announcement later Friday amid continued demands for more federal money for health care.
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“We understand that Canadians are really concerned and frustrated and scared in many parts of the country about the state of the health care system, and we know that we have to work together to make it better,” Freeland told reporters. an event in Toronto on Friday.
“Yes, it means a little more investment, but it also means a focus on making sure we get the results that Canadians rightly expect from us from those investments alone.”
All 13 of Canada’s prime ministers have demanded a $28 billion increase to the Canada Health Transfer, which they say will bring the federal contribution to health costs from 22 percent currently to 35 percent.
Last month, they launched an ad campaign in an effort to ease the political heat in their demands, linking the need for more federal funding to an exodus of doctors and nurses from the health system — just one of the pressures facing overcrowded hospitals and emergency departments. across the country.
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Ottawa argues the premiers’ figures do not represent the full extent of the federal government’s total investment in health care, as tax credits to provinces and other specific bilateral agreements on mental health and home care are not factored in.
Nevertheless, federal health minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Ottawa is willing to provide additional health care dollars to provinces and territories, but first wants an agreement in which they will commit to expanding the use of common key health indicators and to A “world class” health data system for the country.
A meeting of provincial, territorial and federal health ministers in early November ended without an agreement, with the premiers issuing a joint statement saying they were “disappointed with the lack of a federal response on the critical issue of sustainable health funding.”
But federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc says talks between Ottawa and the provinces have not stalled when it comes to finding solutions to the “crisis” facing the health system.
He noted that he had recently spoken with the premiers of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, and that these discussions had been “encouraging.”
“As we look to increase federal investment, we want to ensure that we collectively achieve the results as governments that Canadians expect from their health care system,” LeBlanc said Friday with Freeland in Toronto.
“I think we’re in a place where we can continue to do the important work that Canadians expect of us, and I’m not at all pessimistic about the results of our collective efforts.”
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