Poilievre says Conservatives would uphold federal-provincial health-care funding deals
Pierre Poilievre says he would uphold the 10-year deals Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is looking to ink with provinces and territories that would inject $46.2 billion in new funding into Canada's strained health-care systems, if the Conservatives form the next government.
Poilievre said Wednesday that while Trudeau has announced an inadequate amount of new funding to improve the state of Canadian healthcare, based on premiers' initial reactions, "obviously a future Conservative government led by myself will keep in place these additional sums and honour the commitments made."
On Tuesday, Trudeau pitched the premiers a plan that would see federal health funding increase by $196.1 billion over 10 years, in exchange for provinces and territories meeting metrics to improve care.
The offer includes both increases to the amount budgeted to flow through the Canada Health Transfer (CHT), as well as federal plans to sign bilateral deals that are mindful of each province and territory’s unique circumstances.
While Trudeau is touting the Liberals' commitment as "a major federal investment in health care," early indications suggest the offer doesn’t satisfy provinces' demands.
Poilievre told reporters on his way into a Conservative caucus meeting on Wednesday morning, it's regrettable that Trudeau didn't come to the table with more new funding. Though, the Conservative leader said he will "honour" any deal that's finalized, agreeing with the Liberals' approach of looking to advance shared goals with the new money.
Metrics the federal government hopes it can use to assess any tangible progress from these funding arrangements include the net-new family physicians in each province and territory, the size of surgical backlogs, and the median wait times for access to mental health services.
Poilievre wasn't clear on whether he'd offer up more money, but vowed that a Conservative government would not cut health-care funding.
"A Conservative government will unleash the productive forces of our economy so there is more money available to support health care. We will cut the waste and mismanagement in the federal government… So that more of your tax dollar goes to the emergency room, and to treating your family," he said.
This commitment from the Conservative leader offers some certainty that any new spending plans to improve staffing, tackle surgical backlogs, and speed up access to emergency and mental health care, can count on funding whether the Liberals or Conservatives win the next federal election.
Ahead of this commitment, the NDP had accused Poilievre of being “absent, silent and missing” from the conversation around the future of health care in Canada.
During a press conference on Wednesday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said that if he were prime minister, he'd meet with every premier to talk about rebuilding the health-care system.
Reacting to the Conservative leader's remarks on his way into question period—where health-care spending was a hot topic—Trudeau accused Poilievre of slamming the plan that the prime minister said will improve care for Canadians.
"I haven't heard from any Canadians anywhere in the country who feel like there isn't a need to improve their health-care systems… and I know awful lot of premiers are very eager to roll up their sleeves and get to work," Trudeau said. "Conversations are beginning in the coming days to be able to deliver this money as quickly as possible to make sure that there are concrete improvements."
Premiers are still digesting the prime minister’s pitch, but with plans to have the agreements solidified ahead of the next federal budget, Trudeau has said the federal government is looking to finalize negotiations with the provinces and territories in the next few weeks.
Some premiers left Tuesday’s meeting viewing the Liberal offer as a starting point, while others viewed it as more of a take-it-or-leave-it proposal.
"We're going to sit down today and review it, and discuss it with the rest of the premiers. I'm confident we'll get the T's crossed, the I's dotted," said Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Wednesday. "We're grateful for the offer… but we want sustainability. We need certainty, moving forward… And I'm confident we'll work collaboratively together with the federal government, and I look forward to getting the deal done."
Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones will be meeting with federal officials Thursday to discuss the details of the new health-care funding deal. As CTV News Toronto has reported, the premier’s office said Ontario is being offered $776 million in immediate, emergency top-up funding and another $8.4 billion in health-care money over the next decade. The government, however, is not speaking about how it hopes to use the new funds.
P.E.I. Premier Dennis King stuck around to meet with Trudeau on Wednesday. Coming out of that sit-down, King told reporters that he thinks a "significant" amount of money is being offered, but it's nothing new for premiers to push for more from the federal government.
"He who has the gold makes the rules. So I don't know if this is a negotiation. I think it's, we had put forward what we thought was a fair deal. The federal government has come back. At the end of the day the federal government are the ones who say, 'this is the federal money, this is what you have.' So I'm prepared to take that money and put it to good use," King said. "But as I say, I don't think it ends here. I think we need to continue to look for more opportunities to partner with the federal government when it comes to the delivery of health care."
On his way into a federal Liberal caucus meeting on Wednesday morning, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said that Trudeau asked him to write to his provincial and territorial counterparts to outline the path ahead for negotiating the proposed bilateral deals tailored to each health-care system’s needs.
Duclos said he'll be doing that "very soon" so that "action plans" the federal government wants to see from the premiers can be finalized, and the $25 billion in earmarked funding can start to flow.
"As we heard yesterday, I think all premiers have indicated that they feel that this is a path forward. It's a big step made yesterday. And now, we need to talk about the way by which those dollars will bring results to patients and workers in Canada. And the good news is that lots of the work… the actual policy that is needed to generate those results, lots of the work on that has been done over the last year with my colleague health ministers," Duclos said.
IN DEPTH
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Trudeau, key election players to testify at foreign interference hearings. What you need to know
The public hearings portion of the federal inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian elections and democratic institutions are picking back up this week. Here's what you need to know.
Who is supporting, opposing new online harms bill?
Now that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's sweeping online harms legislation is before Parliament, allowing key stakeholders, major platforms, and Canadians with direct personal experience with abuse to dig in and see what's being proposed, reaction is streaming in. CTVNews.ca has rounded up reaction, and here's how Bill C-63 is going over.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
TREND LINE What Nanos' tracking tells us about Canadians' mood, party preference heading into 2024
Heading into a new year, Canadians aren't feeling overly optimistic about the direction the country is heading, with the number of voters indicating negative views about the federal government's performance at the highest in a decade, national tracking from Nanos Research shows.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
opinion Don Martin: Pierre Poilievre's road to apparent victory will soon start to get rougher
Pierre Poilievre and his Conservatives appear to be on cruise control to a rendezvous with the leader's prime ministerial ambition, but in his latest column for CTVNews.ca, Don Martin questions whether the Conservative leader may be peaking too soon.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Former Air Canada employees among suspects identified in gold heist at Pearson Airport: police
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year, Peel Regional Police said Wednesday.
MPs summon ArriveCan contractor to the House to be admonished in rare parliamentary display
Enacting an extraordinarily rarely used parliamentary power, MPs have summoned an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon to be admonished publicly for failing to answer their questions.
'Enormous sum of money': Actor Hugh Grant settles privacy lawsuit against tabloid
British actor Hugh Grant has settled a lawsuit against the publisher of Rupert Murdoch's tabloid newspaper, The Sun, over claims journalists used private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house, he said on Wednesday.
Gas prices across Ontario expected to climb to levels not seen since 2022, analyst says
Ontario is going to see a big jump at the pumps later this week as gas prices in the province hit levels not seen in nearly two years, according to one industry analyst.
Ancient skeletons unearthed in France reveal Mafia-style killings
More than 5,500 years ago, two women were tied up and probably buried alive in a ritual sacrifice, using a form of torture associated today with the Italian Mafia, according to an analysis of skeletons discovered at an archaeological site in southwest France.
O.J. Simpson was chilling with a beer on a couch before Easter, lawyer says. 2 weeks later he was dead
O.J. Simpson's last robust discussion with his longtime lawyer was just before Easter, at the country club home Simpson leased southwest of the Las Vegas Strip. About a week later, on April 5, a doctor said Simpson was 'transitioning.'
Some of the winners and losers in the 2024 federal budget
With a variety of fiscal and policy measures announced in the federal budget, winners include small businesses and fintech companies while losers include the tobacco industry and Canadian pension funds.
U.K. plan to phase out smoking for good passes first hurdle
The British government's plan for a landmark smoking ban that aims to stop young people from ever smoking cleared its first hurdle in Parliament on Tuesday despite vocal opposition from within Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party.
Father of boy accused of stabbing 2 Australian clerics saw no signs of extremism, Muslim leader says
The father of a boy accused of stabbing two Christian clerics in Australia saw no signs of his son’s extremism, a Muslim community leader said on Wednesday as police began arresting suspected rioters who besieged a Sydney church demanding revenge.
Local Spotlight
Marmot in the city: New resident of North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale a 'rock star rodent'
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
Relocated seal returns to Greater Victoria after 'astonishing' 204-kilometre trek
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Ottawa barber shop steps away from Parliament Hill marks 100 years in business
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
'It was a special game': Edmonton pinball player celebrates high score and shout out from game designer
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
'How much time do we have?': 'Contamination' in Prairie groundwater identified
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
'Why not do it together?': Lifelong friends take part in 'brosectomy' in Vancouver
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
Grain-gobbling bears spark 'no stopping' zone in Banff National Park
A popular highway in Alberta's Banff National Park now has a 'no stopping zone' to help protect two bears.
Deer family appears to accept B.C. man as one of their own
B.C. resident Robert Conrad spent thousands of hours on Crown land developing an unusual bond with deer.
Doorbell video shows family of black bears scared off by dog in Sudbury, Ont.
A Sudbury woman said her husband was bringing the recycling out to the curb Wednesday night when he had to make a 'mad dash' inside after seeing a bear.