(Ottawa) The major health unions and the Bloc Québécois are calling for a public summit on the financing of care. It is “urgent” that the federal government increase its contribution from 22 to 35% unconditionally, as requested by the provinces. Minister Jean-Yves Duclos repeats that he wants to be their ally.
Updated yesterday at 6:22 p.m.
“For the moment, there are not many favorable responses to that,” acknowledged the Bloc leader, Yves-François Blanchet, at a press conference on Monday. The Bloc Québécois had already asked for the organization of such a summit in December.
It has the support of representatives of the Quebec Federation of Labor (FTQ), the Central Trade Unions of Quebec (CSQ), the Interprofessional Health Federation of Quebec (FIQ), the Central of Democratic Trade Unions (CSD) , the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ), the Alliance of Professional and Technical Personnel in Health and Social Services (APTS), the Federation of Medical Specialists of Quebec (FMSQ), the Association of Medical Hematologists and Oncologists of Quebec (AMHOQ) and the Confederation of National Trade Unions (CSN).
“The resources are not there, that’s why we are joining this movement today to ask for an increase in funding so that we can finally solve problems in the network for several years. said the president of the APTS, Robert Comeau, which represents 65,000 health technicians. According to him, additional sums would make it possible to attract and retain more workers in the network as well as to achieve the objectives of Minister Christian Dubé’s plan to overhaul the health system.
Mr. Blanchet then tackled the conditions that Ottawa would like to associate with a possible increase in health transfers. The federal Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, recently announced a sum of two billion to help them reduce the waiting list for surgery which has lengthened during the pandemic. Quebec’s share is $450 million.
The federal government does not have to impose conditions in an area of jurisdiction that falls under the provinces, argued the Bloc leader. The president of the FMOQ, Marc-André Amyot agreed.
“There are some of Mr. Duclos’ priorities that are interesting, but again it’s a form of interference in a provincial jurisdiction and let the provincial governments manage those priorities,” he said. .
During his announcement, Minister Duclos had instead argued that these are “priority areas on which everyone agrees”.
“The pandemic has significantly weakened the health care system across the country,” he said in a written statement Monday. It has also led, he says, to “a historic period” of collaboration between the provincial, territorial and federal governments that he intends to continue. “We have a shared responsibility to continue to work together to protect the health of all Canadians,” he said.
In fact, Ottawa does not really have the means to verify whether this money will indeed be used to reduce the wait for surgical procedures.
An increase in health transfers from 22% to 35% equals an additional $28 billion across the country. However, a federal source who was not authorized to speak publicly recalled that at the end of the first agreement on health financing in 1977, the federal government had reduced its tax rates so that the provinces and territories increase theirs by an equivalent amount to complete the sum of the health transfers.
The Liberals and New Democrats reached an agreement in March so that Justin Trudeau’s government could govern as if it held a majority of seats in the House of Commons. Both parties had made several health promises during the election campaign that infringed on provincial jurisdictions.
“Do we need another consultation to realize that the public health care system is underfunded?” asked New Democrat MP Alexandre Boulerice in an interview. I do not think that is asking much of the Liberal government. »
The NDP is calling for a stable and permanent increase in health transfers. He had promised during the election campaign to end the private management of long-term care centers where seniors died in “poor conditions” during the pandemic.
“Our job is to say ‘what can we do to resolve the issue’,” argued Mr. Boulerice. He referred to the principle of universality at the heart of the Canada Health Act.