The federal government has signalled a great deal of confidence in all provinces’ handling of COVID-19’s economic and public health repercussions. From declaring essential services, providing necessary funding and relief for Canadians, to easing restrictions, the provinces and territories have taken the lead and demonstrated tremendous partnership across regional and partisan lines. Many of Canada’s Premiers and provincial ministers have carried out announcements, news conferences and published press releases in collaboration with the Trudeau government over the pandemic. And as much trust as the Prime Minister has put in the First Ministers, they have also relied on his approach and hoped that every measure would not overlook their province.
However, this week’s Throne Speech left Canada’s Premiers feeling that the Trudeau government missed the mark on the most important elements to Canada’s safety and recovery: healthcare funding. Following the speech, the premiers met to discuss their immediate responses, and the response for all was consistent: the absence of a commitment to significantly increase the Canada Health Transfer (CHT) was a major oversight.
Although the CHT remains the largest major transfer to provinces and territories, the pandemic has severely increased the need for greater transfers. In the days leading up to the Throne Speech, the premiers joined forces to urge the federal government to include a significant CHT increase as a part of the mandate reset. Provinces and territories are set to spend more than $188 billion on health care this year, while the CHT will fund $42 billion of that. The provinces and territories have asked for the federal government to increase that amount to cover 35% of all provincial health care costs. This is said to help close this gap to ensure healthcare systems across the country can remain both effective and sustainable. The premiers have also noted that the CHT not only helps with COVID-19 costs, but helps address other long-standing healthcare crises throughout the country.
Throughout the pandemic, the federal government has repeatedly said that provinces and territories are, in fact, the experts on the frontlines of healthcare and therefore, are in the best position to determine their healthcare needs. However, this may contrast Trudeau’s mentions this week on new healthcare interventions being put into provincial jurisdiction. The federal commitment to pharmacare, which intersects with provinces – and some existing provincial measures – caused backlash from several premiers. Alberta’s Premier Jason Kenney has said his government would opt out of a federally led pharmacare plan, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he speaks for all ministers by saying “we don’t believe the federal government should be in that provincial jurisdiction.”
Stepping on jurisdictional toes while neglecting to increase health transfers has left the federal-provincial relationship uncertain. The Prime Minister has agreed to sit down with the premiers later this fall to discuss health funding and health related issues. The coming weeks and months of the pandemic are expected to be crucial, as Canada is still facing a serious COVID-19 crisis – all while the country is also trying to level into the start of an economic recovery. Although the end of the pandemic is not near, Canadians have learned that a continued close collaboration between the federal government and Premiers from coast to coast to coast is needed in getting the pandemic response and recovery right.
