Ford, premiers demand billions in aid
Conservative leaders say Liberals must give more, and not say how it’s spent
OTTAWA— A group of conservative-minded premiers say the federal Liberal government must give provinces tens of billions of dollars more for health care, infrastructure and fiscal aid, but should not tell them how to spend it.
The four provincial leaders of Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba personally delivered that message in a news conference on behalf, they said, of all 13 provincial and territorial governments, and addressed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau directly, saying he should “focus” on health care, not on other issues in next week’s throne speech.
Premiers Doug Ford, Jason Kenney, François Legault and Brian Pallister all came to the nation’s capital, where public health officer Dr. Vera Etches warned a second COVID-19 wave is underway, not to meet with Trudeau — they didn’t even ask for a meeting — but to tell him to prioritize health care spending in next week’s throne speech.
The provinces want Trudeau to commit to much higher annual health-care spending beyond the pandemic. Their demand: that Ottawa raise the Canada Health Transfer by $28 billion before April 1, meaning hiking the $42 billion transfer to $70 billion, and to keep it on an escalating path.
Legault said the federal portion of health-care spending should rise from 22 per cent to 35 per cent, and the federal share should remain at that level on an ongoing basis and “have no conditions attached.”
“We’re here to ask the federal government, step up to the plate,” said Ford, who dismissed questions about a national pharmacare program, saying health care is strictly the provinces’ domain.
“It’s a provincial jurisdiction and that’s going to be up to each province to decide if we go down that route or we don’t,” Ford said.
Others too warned Trudeau not to indulge in new programs or spending obligations as the prime minister sets out next week what he previously billed as an “ambitious” new governing agenda.
“Don’t come and invent all sorts of new programs and new spending when the priority of Canadians is to properly finance health care. And right now it is not well financed,” said Legault.
Manitoba’s Brian Pallister sounded a note of impatience.
“This throne speech needs to focus. I know that is difficult for any government. It is especially difficult for a minority government. But they must focus and keep the main thing the main thing. The main thing is the personal health and well-being of each and every Canadian.
Pallister mocked talk of creating a new national pharmacare program.
“If your foundation of your house is beginning to crumble, do you redecorate the secondfloor sitting room? We need a federal government to focus on the fundamentals, the foundation, and the foundation of our health-care system surely rests on our ability to get care when we need it in a timely manner.”
However health care wasn’t the premiers’ sole focus Friday.
They added to their wish list, saying Ottawa must spend $10 billion a year more on infrastructure for the next 10 years, for a total of $100 billion; and lift a per-capita limit on a federal fiscal stabilization program that is meant to cushion “have” provinces from economic shocks, like the oil and gas sector downturn that has hit hard in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Alberta’s Kenney, backed by the others, said his province has been shortchanged by about $6 billion. Later, on CBC’s Power and Politics, Kenney said it would be a one-off payment to aid Alberta, not a recurring commitment.
Kenney said all premiers are concerned by talk from Trudeau’s cabinet about a “green relaunch” which he said could be even more damaging to resource sectors. He said Trudeau should not be indulging in “ideological fancies” when there is a “job crisis” at hand.
Trudeau has already agreed to a first ministers’ meeting this fall to discuss health care and the premiers’ demand that the automatic increase in federal health spending should increase from three per cent each year to 5.2 per cent annually.
On Friday, they said healthcare costs across the country are rising anywhere from five to six per cent a year due to an aging population, the need to hire more health workers with the salary costs that entails, and more expensive innovations in medicines and technology. Ford said Ontario’s health system also faces a capital spending crunch.
For all their talk and criticism of Trudeau, the premiers praised the level of federal-provincial collaboration during the pandemic, through some 18 first ministers’ conference calls with Trudeau.
Ford insisted it wasn’t about criticizing any one party, that governments of all political stripes going back 20 or 30 years are to blame.
Trudeau’s Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic Leblanc said the premiers know Trudeau’s immediate priority is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
He took a shot at the provinces who have received $19 billion, including $11 billion for healthcare costs, under Safe Re-Start agreements, yet are having trouble ramping up testing in places like Ottawa where COVID-19 is spiking. Leblanc said the premiers know Trudeau shares their concerns for the long-term sustainability of a quality health-care system.
“It’s not a surprise to the premiers,” Leblanc said. “What is a surprise to us is that they came to Ottawa today to take yes for an answer.” But he declined to say whether Ottawa has the capacity to meet their demands, saying only that questions about Ottawa’s fiscal capacity are now under consideration.
Leblanc, who was celebrating the one-year anniversary of a successful stem cell transplant for cancer, said he recognizes the “critical importance” to Canadians of an accessible highquality health care system.
But he took a dig at Kenney, saying he found “the irony pleasant” – that Kenney had been a member of the Harper government that never showed any interest in the kinds of meetings the premiers are demanding, including to discuss health care with the provinces.
“But we think it is very important and very urgent to continue to focus on the health-care issues linked to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Leblanc said repeatedly. And Leblanc underscored that provinces have still not spent many billions of dollars in infrastructure money. “Let’s start by properly investing the billions of dollars that remains unallocated.”
The federal parliamentary budget office, in its latest report on the federal government’s $188 billion infrastructure package, said “While federal infrastructure transfers increased by $1 billion in 2018-19, overall provincial infrastructure spending decreased by $800 million.”