Earlier this year, the federal government gave the provinces and territories an immediate, unconditional $2-billion Canada Health Transfer on top of a record $198.6 billion to address immediate pressures on the health care system. But there were no strings attached on how it would be used.
“As a health-care team, we are disheartened, dispirited and have lost all hope that our leaders even understand the magnitude of the issues that face us. God help us all,” said veteran ER doctor Alan Drummond, the past president of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians. His group is calling for a national forum to come up with a cross-country plan to fix the problem fast.
But there were no strings attached on how it would be used.
None of Canada’s premiers were willing to sign a document that locked those funds into healthcare spending alone. So essentially they can be used for anything a provincial gov’t wants to spend money on … like Ontario’s greenbelt, BC’s fires, or even just to give themselves raises.
Only we can hold ALL of them accountable on this.
Do we know it was all of them? As I recall they collectively put out a statement put out by the premiers, but not necessarily unanimously.
