Provinces bristle at what they call feds’ take it or leave it health care offer – CP

Source: The Canadian Press
Dec 19, 2016 

By Jordan Press and Andy Blatchford

THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA _ The federal government is to sit down Monday with the provinces for some tough negotiations on the future of health-care funding in Canada.

Shortly before a Sunday dinner meeting with their federal counterpart, provincial finance ministers were critical of what they described as an inadequate, take-it-or-leave-it offer from the Trudeau government.

Several provinces insisted that a proposal by the federal Liberals on health funding was presented as an ultimatum and accused Ottawa of making it without any real negotiations.

Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau said late Sunday that he hoped the provinces would have an open mind heading into the discussions.

Morneau has said he’s “cautiously optimistic” that a deal could be reached. On his way into Sunday’s dinner, he told reporters that Ottawa planned to put forward an important idea focused on mental health and home care.

The two sides, however, appeared to be far apart late Sunday.

Talks were to continue Monday and health ministers from across the country were invited to join in during a special afternoon session.

When asked Sunday about his expectations for Monday, British Columbia Finance Minister Michael de Jong gave a short reply: “Intense discussions.”

Quebec Health Minister Gaetan Barrette said Sunday in an interview he and his counterparts were “not satisfied” with how Ottawa had approached the talks.

“There’s been no negotiations whatsoever during the last year and we are being served an ultimatum by Bill Morneau, which is totally insulting and inappropriate,” Barrette said.

When asked Sunday about the provinces’ claims that Ottawa hadn’t presented a good deal, Morneau responded by saying the federal government would like to ensure the talks lead to measurable outcomes “that will make a real difference for Canadians,” particularly in mental health and home care.

Morneau has also said that the federal government would put a “significant” amount of money into those areas over a period longer than five years.

Ottawa has publicly said it plans to stick with a plan set by the previous Conservative government to see the six per cent annual increase in federal health funding fall to three per cent.

However, several provinces say that Morneau made them an offer on Friday.

Barrette and de Jong said Morneau has proposed a firm 3.5 per cent annual increase in transfers as well as another $8 billion over 10 years for specific areas such as home care and mental health. Ottawa is also talking about investing $1 billion into home-care infrastructure over four years, Barrette said.

The offer, de Jong said in an interview Sunday, could mean even less money for provinces over the next decade compared to just leaving the Liberals to follow through on their plan to invest $3 billion over four years into home care and to allow the six per cent annual increase in transfers fall to a floor of either three per cent or an average of nominal economic growth _ whichever is higher.

The federal government’s own projections predict that nominal growth will average above 3.5 per cent over the next decade, de Jong noted

“A clever proposal but not one that really addresses the pressures and a disappointment for us,” de Jong said in an interview.

Even with the 2015 Liberal platform’s pledge of $3 billion for home care, de Jong said he didn’t think his province would necessarily be better off.

He also voiced concerns about the way he says the offer was delivered.

“The take it or leave it attitude that seems to be emanating from the Prime Minister’s Office on this is not productive, it’s certainly not collaborative, and really not acceptable,” de Jong said.

Barrette said if the provinces accept Morneau’s offer of a locked-in 3.5 per cent annual increases then the federal share of health funding will actually decrease from about 23 per cent right now to possibly under 20 per cent.

On Friday, Morneau called provincial demands for bigger federal health funding transfers “out of the realm” of anything Ottawa would consider.

One proposal supported by at least several provinces has asked Ottawa to maintain the annual transfer increases at least as high 5.2 per cent, while another provincial pitch has called on the federal government to ensure its share of provincial health-care budgets is pegged at 25 per cent.

But Morneau insisted the federal government wouldn’t agree to keep the annual increases in transfers above three per cent, nor would Ottawa raise its share of spending to 25 per cent of provincial health budgets.

INDEX: ECONOMY HEALTH NATIONAL BUSINESS POLITICS