(Djerba, Tunisia) Quebec and Ottawa are showing the first signs of rapprochement on the contentious front of federal health transfers. François Legault “is ready” to share his data with the federal government, a condition required by Ottawa to give more money to the provinces.
“We have a reliable data system and we are improving it with Christian Dubé [ministre de la Santé] and we are ready to share this data with the federal government,” declared François Legault during a press conference during which he took stock of his participation in the Sommet de la Francophonie.
This is a change of tone for the Legault government, the day after a bilateral meeting with Justin Trudeau – the first since his re-election.
At the beginning of the month, there was no question of the Minister of Health accepting the condition set by Ottawa to participate in the creation of a “world-class” health data system, according to what La Canadian Press.
“When we talk about performance indicators, Québec is accountable to citizens and to the National Assembly. It is not beholden to the federal government because it comes under provincial jurisdiction,” Mr. Dubé said during the meeting of provincial health ministers in Vancouver. He also added: “If the federal government wants statistics, we have a public dashboard that is available. »
An inspiration for the rest of Canada?
Justin Trudeau also softened his tone on Sunday, stressing that Quebec is “already doing a very good job” in terms of data. On the sidelines of the Summit, he even maintained that the Quebec model could inspire “to ensure that we have a better overview of what is happening in the country”.
An “encouraging” signal in the eyes of Mr. Legault. “I’m glad to see that the feds seem to be saying [qu’on est] perhaps the most advanced in terms of data”, he rejoiced.
Last May, Christian Dubé rolled out the publication of a dashboard that measures the progress of his Health Plan. He also wants, when parliamentary work resumes in Quebec, to bring back a new version of his Bill 19 which allows the decompartmentalization of data in the health network.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Christian Dubé, last May
Justin Trudeau reiterated on Sunday his government’s “openness” to increasing federal health transfers, but on condition in particular of having access to health data. He added that he was hopeful of reaching an agreement with the provinces on the subject.
“It’s not so that the feds can check whether everyone is doing their homework,” he explained.
“It’s so that Canadians know for themselves that if someone in Montreal has found a way of administering health services that is much better than what they do back home in Saskatoon or Halifax, although “we can benefit from it” across the country, added Mr. Trudeau.
A request with which Mr. Legault sees no problem. “If we are able to help the other provinces, we are open to that,” he said, obviously emphasizing that he would like to have access to their data in return.
When an offer?
Despite this certain rapprochement, François Legault recalls that he has always seen “no proposal with an amount” from Ottawa. The provinces are united to increase federal health transfers from 22% to 35% and to maintain this proportion over the years.
“We are still waiting for the first proposal from the federal government,” said Mr. Legault.
Mr. Trudeau did not want to say if his government would arrive with a new proposal to the provinces by the holidays.
“We know how urgent it is,” contented himself with saying the Prime Minister, who was returning to the country on Sunday after a tour of several missions abroad.
François Legault and Justin Trudeau are due to meet for a more formal interview in December. On Saturday, Mr. Legault, who listed his list of demands, indicated that he had no intention of “doing a squabble with Ottawa abroad”.
The provinces have been calling for an increase in federal health transfers for more than two years. The pandemic has also exacerbated the underfunding of health systems, according to them.
The meeting of provincial health ministers and federal health minister Jean-Yves Duclos in Vancouver ended without an agreement. Ottawa had also withdrawn from the joint press release which was to be published at the end of the exercise.