(Ottawa) The suspense will last until next Tuesday. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland abstained on Friday from disclosing to her provincial counterparts the additional sum that Ottawa is ready to invest annually in health care to help the provinces rebuild the health networks, greatly weakened in following the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the end of a meeting of the great fundraisers of the country in Toronto, Mr.me Freeland said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will outline details of the federal offer next Tuesday when he meets with his provincial counterparts in Ottawa.
This refusal to put any figures on the table somewhat irritated the Minister of Finance of Quebec, Eric Girard. “It’s time to see the numbers,” he said during a press conference after the match.
For several months, the provinces have united to demand a substantial increase in health transfers of $28 billion per year. According to provincial calculations, this would allow Ottawa to pay 35% of health care costs in the country, compared to 22% today.
The Trudeau government has already made it known that it does not intend to accede to this request, going so far as to point out that the provinces have sufficient financial capacity in the short term to invest more in the health system if they do so. wish.
The federal government also disputes the calculation method and maintains that it already pays 35% of the costs if we take into account the tax points transferred to the provinces in the 1970s.
Remember that the agreement that the Trudeau government wishes to conclude would be for a period of 10 years. At the same time, Ottawa intends to sign bilateral agreements with each of the provinces to take their needs into account. Some provinces could thus use this money for their respective health care priorities, such as mental health, primary care, or even tackle the surgical waiting list more quickly.
After the meeting on Friday, Mr.me Freeland said the federal government is ready to loosen its purse strings to increase health transfers to the provinces. “I think it’s clear to all Canadians that we need to invest in our health care system and we made commitments during the election campaign to do so and we will honor those commitments,” said the Minister.
But in return, Ottawa will ask the provinces to loosen their respective purse strings so that Canada can compete with the United States and get its share of the clean energy investments that big business wants to make.
Mme Freeland has indicated that these two files will be the pillars of his next federal budget which will have to be marked with the seal of rigor because of the uncertainty which hangs over the world economy and inflation which remains high.
“It is important for me to be frank, to be open that we have these two major issues in which we must invest and we will invest,” said the Minister. “But at the same time, the global economy is slowing down and we will be more limited because of that.”
She argued that 2023 will be a defining year for green energy investments that Canada can get from big business. The United States, by passing the Reduction Inflation Act which includes colossal financial incentives to attract capital from investors, has set the playing field. Canada will have to do the same if it does not want to settle for crumbs, a- she warned.
“We are going to have to do more in this regard. We are at a time when very specific investment decisions are being made on very specific projects. I cannot stress enough how much I believe we must seize this opportunity and build the clean economy of the 21e century,” she pleaded.
She argued that Ottawa and the provinces must come together on this file, citing the need to form “a Team Canada”.
“There is a global race going on right now. The starting gun has been fired to build the clean economy of the 21e century. I cannot stress enough how important the year 2023 is when it comes to attracting this capital. Once you get those big investments, they are very long-term projects. Once they’re here, they’re going to be here long term, and that’s going to give us the jobs, the technology, the supply chain. »
Invited to comment on the remarks of Mr.me Freeland, Finance Minister Eric Girard argued that Quebec already has tools to attract foreign investment and that the Legault government’s strategy is to assess the merits and spinoffs of each project.