Disappointed Doug Ford wants Justin Trudeau to expand health-care funding deal

Disappointed that the Trudeau government’s health funding offer was not bigger and for a longer term, Premier Doug Ford will sit down face-to-face Thursday with two federal cabinet ministers in Toronto to continue talks.

Ford and Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones are meeting with her federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc as both sides work toward inking a deal to improve a health-care system strained by the pandemic and a growing and aging population.

Jones said Wednesday that Ontario wants details on “how we can ensure these are not short-term, one-and done programs.”

Ford, at Queen’s Park Wednesday morning to sign a book of condolences for long-time Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion, was afterwards asked about the federal health offer.

“We’re going to sit down today and review it and discuss it with the rest of the premiers,” said Ford.

“I’m confident we’ll get the Ts crossed and the Is dotted,” the premier added. “We’re grateful for the offer, we’re grateful for sitting down with the prime minister. But we want sustainability. We need certainty moving forward — not just for a few years, five or 10 years, but for decades to come.”

The premier said he’s “confident we’ll work collaboratively together with the federal government and I look forward to getting a deal done.”

The offer of $46.2 billion more in federal funding for the provinces over 10 years was made Tuesday in Ottawa at a gathering of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and provincial and territorial leaders, and included an immediate $2 billion for overburdened children’s hospitals and emergency rooms.

Speaking at the Dorothy Ley Hospice near Sherway Gardens, Jones reiterated the funding would be accepted but raised “concerns about the timelines,” which she said are too short for meaningful long-term planning to improve care for patients.

“We are building a health system for generations to come.”

When a deal is settled, she said the priority would be “to improve the patient experience,” such as through improved access to primary care.

While Ford called the promise a “down payment” on what the provinces need to bolster health care, Trudeau billed the extra $46.2 billion a “major federal investment.”

Under the offer, federal transfer payments to the provinces would increase by $17.3 billion over the next decade and there is a separate fund of $25 billion over 10 years for bilateral deals with the provinces in areas of shared priorities.

Trudeau signalled he wants to reach these deals “within weeks” on improving family health services by hiring more nurses and doctors, improving mental health care and addiction services, and modernizing collection of health data to better track progress.

There is also $1.7 billion in the federal offer to boost salaries for personal service workers in the health-care system.

SHARE: