Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
Canada's premiers presented a united front Friday as they demanded Prime Minister Justin Trudeau come to the table personally to hammer out an agreement for Ottawa to shoulder more of the burden when it comes to health-care costs.
Premiers also defended their refusal to accept conditions for additional federal funds, and pushed back on any suggestion of throwing their own money into the pot even though some provinces are posting budget surpluses.
The provincial and territorial leaders issued their call for a sit-down with Trudeau after a closed-door meeting in Winnipeg, one month after talks with the federal government on health-care funding ended without an agreement.
Led by Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson, the premiers reiterated their desire to see Ottawa cover 35 per cent of health-care costs across the country, up from the current 22 per cent, by increasing the Canada Health Transfer.
Provincial health ministers presented the same demand to federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos in Vancouver last month. But those talks ended without a deal, with Duclos saying provinces did not want to accept any conditions for the money.
Stefanson said it is time for the prime minister to negotiate an agreement in January.
"What we're calling for today is just a meeting to sit down with the prime minister to have the discussion about fair and sustainable funding for the future of health care in our country," Stefanson said at a news conference.
During a separate news conference on Parliament Hill, Duclos reiterated the federal government's willingness to work with provinces and territories on a long-term deal. However, he would not say if Trudeau would meet the premiers.
"The prime minister will obviously do what he wants to do," Duclos said.
"What he has asked me to do is to work with my colleagues, health ministers. … Now we need premiers to let us do our job and express publicly the type of outcomes and results that we need to achieve together."
The impasse comes as many health-care facilities, particularly children's hospitals, are struggling with a shortage of staff and overwhelming demand as a result of a combination of COVID-19, influenza and respiratory infections.
It also comes as some provinces are facing rosier fiscal situations than expected, with a number projecting budget surpluses. That has prompted some, such as the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, to question their demands.
The CCPA in a report last month projected that British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and New Brunswick would have budget surpluses now and into the coming years that would help address some of the system's current problems.
Stefanson and others defended their position and accused Ottawa of unfairly dumping its obligations onto the provinces and territories at the expense of other priorities such as education and other services.
"What we see in these forecasts is that in the long term, the federal government will end up with surpluses and the provinces will increase their deficits because of the growing rate of increase for health care," said Quebec Premier Francois Legault.
Duclos said Friday that the federal government has been clear it is ready to contribute more to health care, but that Ottawa wants to know what results will be achieved with the additional funds before they are doled out.
"We first need to agree on the outcomes and the results we need to achieve together," he said. "So let's speak about the ends Γüá-- what we want to do Γüá-- and then assess the dollars needed from everyone, including the federal government, to achieve those results."
However, premiers have interpreted such talk as an attempt to dictate how money will be spent.
"Transparency and accountability, we have no problem with that," Ontario Premier Doug Ford said. "But we need the flexibility. First of all, we need the funding, and then we need the flexibility to be able to move those funds around where they're needed."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 9, 2022.
A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the topic of the premiers' meeting.
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
An Ontario man found out that a line of credit he thought was insured actually isn't after his wife of 50 years died.
After more than a century, Boy Scouts of America is rebranding as Scouting America, another major shakeup for an organization that once proudly resisted change.
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
In March, Indonesian officials and local fishermen rescued 75 people from the overturned hull of a boat off the coast of Indonesia. Until now, little was known about why the boat capsized.
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
A long-simmering feud between hip-hop superstars Drake and Kendrick Lamar reached a boiling point in recent days as the pair traded increasingly personal insults on a succession of diss tracks. Here’s a quick overview of what’s behind the ongoing beef.
European countries have reported a surge in whooping cough cases in 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, with 10 times as many identified as in each of the previous two years.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.