Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc says while the federal government and the provinces still need to hash out the specific terms of their individual bilateral health-care agreements, the total dollar value of the offer on the table is final.
LeBlanc told CTV鈥檚 Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, in an interview airing Sunday, while he 鈥渨ouldn鈥檛 have phrased it鈥� as a take it or leave it proposal, because 鈥渢hat wasn't the tone of the conversation,鈥� the Liberals have no plans to increase the offer.
鈥淲hat we've said is that is the financial commitment that we believe the Government of Canada is able to make,鈥� LeBlanc said. 鈥淚t's a significant commitment, it's a long term commitment, and we've invited the provinces to discuss with us to negotiate the best agreement within those financial parameters for their jurisdiction.鈥�
This week Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with the premiers for a long-awaited sit-down to discuss increasing health-care funding. The $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, of which $46.2 billion is new spending.
But the proposal is far less than the additional $28 billion a year the provinces were asking for, and many premiers said they were disappointed there wasn鈥檛 more new money in the offer.
鈥淚t looked to me like that was his first and only offer,鈥� said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith at a press conference Thursday. 鈥淚'll be meeting with my first minister colleagues on Monday to see what our response will be.鈥�
鈥淭here is a great amount of disappointment,鈥� she also said. 鈥淭hey'd been advocating on this issue for about two-and-a-half years. I think they were anticipating that the new money would be a lot more.鈥�
The premiers are set to reconvene virtually Monday to discuss the proposal.
Meanwhile, LeBlanc said the federal government won鈥檛 be hearing counteroffers or asks for more money from the provinces, largely because it鈥檚 in a period of fiscal restraint, and trying not to further drive up inflation by overspending.
鈥淲e think in the current fiscal position for the government of Canada, it is a generous offer,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t's a long term offer, as they had asked for, and we've invited them to begin bilateral conversations with our government to design these agreements for the priorities in their jurisdiction.鈥�
The provincial and territorial governments are now set to develop 鈥渁ction plans鈥� to lay out how they鈥檒l use the funding and measure improvements to their respective health-care systems.
LeBlanc laid blame for the government鈥檚 current 鈥渇iscal reality鈥� at the feet of the pandemic, and said the federal government sent billions of additional dollars to the provinces for health care to tackle COVID-19 鈥� including vaccine procurement and administration 鈥� even if those funds weren鈥檛 through the Canada Health Transfer.
But when pressed on whether that fiscal reality is a problem of the government鈥檚 own making 鈥� for example by spending overpayments to ineligible recipients 鈥� LeBlanc said spending during the pandemic to support Canadians was the right choice.
鈥淲e think those were the right decisions, but the financial position of the Government of Canada now as compared to five years ago is different,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut as we said, we have put out a significant amount of money over a longer term horizon than previous agreements had contemplated.鈥�
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he would uphold the Liberal deal with the provinces if he were elected prime minister, but that a Conservative government would make sure there鈥檚 more money to put on the table, while NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called the Liberal proposal 鈥渢he bare minimum.鈥�
LeBlanc said the federal government鈥檚 hope is still to finalize agreements with the provinces in the coming weeks so it can allocate funds in the upcoming spring budget.
With files from 麻豆影视鈥� Senior Digital Parliamentary Reporter Rachel Aiello
