(Ottawa) Federal Health Minister Mark Holland said Tuesday that he will have signed, by March 31, a bilateral agreement with the six provinces and territories with which Ottawa still does not have a final agreement. on an individual basis, including Quebec, thereby recalling a deadline set by the federal government for the first payments to be made this year.
By announcing an increase in Ottawa’s investments in health of 46 billion over 10 years, more than a year ago, Justin Trudeau’s government indicated that a portion of 25 billion would go through individual agreements and another through the Canada Health Transfer (CHT).
“To receive the funding planned for 2023-2024 under individual bilateral agreements, the provinces and territories must sign such an agreement by March 31, 2024,” however, the federal government said, as written in its fall economic statement.
The signatures of six provinces and one territory were obtained, but not those of Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan, Yukon and Nunavut.
“It takes time to find a good agreement with each province and each territory, but it is absolutely clear that at the end of March, there will be an agreement with each province, with each territory, to increase quality ( health care,” Mr. Holland said Tuesday during question period.
The only Quebec MP from the New Democratic Party, Alexandre Boulerice, had just accused the Liberals of “dragging their feet with transfers”.
“When will the Liberals finally do their part to ensure that every Quebecer has a family doctor? “, he said.
The minister’s office clarified to The Canadian Press that the latter was referring to bilateral agreements only.
Agreements in principle have been reached in all non-signatory jurisdictions, except Quebec.
Of the overall envelope of 46.2 billion including an increase in the TCS, Quebec must receive approximately 10 billion over 10 years.
By isolating the part of the pot that must come through a bilateral agreement, the amount that must return to the province amounts to 4.8 billion.
Mr. Holland’s office was not able to indicate what percentage of this 4.8 billion would be retained in 2024 if Quebec does not sign by March 31.
It has been argued that the height of annual payments is determined in the bilateral agreements themselves.
When the increase in federal transfers was announced, Prime Minister François Legault summed up his position by saying that it was “better than nothing”. The 10 billion over 10 years, when divided equally from year to year, is equivalent to an annual increase of a billion, while Mr. Legault called for an increase of 6 billion.
However, ministers Christian Dubé, Eric Girard and Jean-François Roberge also signed a letter to the federal government in which they said that “Quebec intends to take advantage of its share of federal funding.”