We would have to wait until 2022 before seeing another federal-provincial meeting to discuss an increase in health transfers.
At least, that’s what Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King hinted at after his face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday.
He argued that conversations taking place in the Council of the Federation suggest that the meeting “will probably take place at the start of the new year, in person, with the Prime Minister”.
The provinces and territories are calling on Ottawa to increase health transfers by $ 28 billion in the first year and then increase them by 5% per year.
During the election campaign, the Liberals promised the equivalent of $ 25 billion over five years for targeted funds in health, such as mental health and for standards in seniors’ centers.
If provinces, such as Quebec, oppose health conditions, Mr. King has been less reluctant.
Prince Edward Island will be open to “whatever the federal government can do in terms of guaranteed funding, year after year,” he said.
A federal-provincial meeting on transfers had already taken place in December 2020. Mr. Trudeau had refused to make a specific commitment, believing that the management of the pandemic was at the top of the list.
The premier of Quebec, François Legault, was then president of the Council of the Federation. His BC counterpart, John Horgan, is now taking the chair.