Premiers Focus on Health Care
The four Atlantic premiers, Pat Binns, John Hamm, Bernard Lord and Brian Tobin agreed today to focus on health care as their top priority at the upcoming premiers' meeting in Quebec City. They issued the following joint statement:
"Although facing numerous other challenges in the Atlantic region at this time, we have agreed to set aside other priorities and present a united call that the federal government make health care its number one priority in the upcoming federal budget. We are also calling on our colleagues, the other premiers, to join with us in presenting a united front on this matter at the premiers' meeting to be held in Quebec City on Feb. 3.
"Maintaining the integrity and stability of the health care system is the top priority of Canadians and must become the number one priority of the federal government. Canadians expect their federal government to be a full partner in the health care system and to support consistent and comparable standards of service across the country. This cannot happen when the federal government only contributes 13 cents to every dollar spent on health.
"The current stresses on the health system across Canada will continue to escalate into a full-blown crisis if the federal government fails to reinvest a significant portion of its growing federal surplus into health care now.
"We are encouraged by federal Minister of Health Allan Rock's recent commitment to cooperate on averting the crisis, but believe a meeting with Ministers of Health cannot wait until May and should be held immediately, before the federal budget is finalized. There is an urgent need to stabilize the existing health care system first, through immediate reinvestments in the upcoming federal budget, before the federal government pursues additional new programs.
"We agree that federal reinvestment in health must be undertaken through a combination of restoring federal funding to the Canada Health and Social Transfer system, adding an escalator to CHST to meet future needs, and reforming the Canadian equalization program to ensure all provinces can provide adequate and comparable services.
"All governments in this country have committed to a 'balanced approach' in which tax cuts and other measures to stimulate the economy are balanced with the need to maintain adequate and effective health and social programs. The federal government has already made clear its intention to introduce tax cuts in the upcoming budget. The time has come for it to complete the balance through a recommitment of funding for health care."