Nick Iwanyshyn The Canadian Press Accompanied by his health colleague, Jean-Yves Duclos, Dominic LeBlanc even said that he had noticed that the provinces — including Quebec — “had a lot in common”.
Strengthened by the agreements it has just signed with five health provinces, the Trudeau government believes it will soon be able to do the same with Quebec.
Minister Dominic LeBlanc said he was confident on Thursday, to see Quebec added “soon” to the list of provinces with bilateral health transfer agreements.
Mr. LeBlanc and his fellow Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, had just had discussions on health transfers with two ministers of the Legault government — Eric Girard (Finance) and Jean-François Roberge (Canadian Relations).< /p>
All that remains is for the Government of Quebec to send a “letter recognizing an agreement in principle”, specified Mr. Duclos.
According to the two federal ministers, the negotiation with the government of Quebec would not be more complex than with the others. On the contrary, since Quebec is “ahead” of the others in terms of data production, noted Mr. Duclos.
Dominic LeBlanc even said he found that the provinces — including Quebec — ” had a lot in common.”
This was the last stop in their tour of provincial capitals to reach bilateral agreements on federal transfers totaling $46 billion in new money over ten years, promised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to fund health services. /p>
Ministers Duclos and LeBlanc's tour has already led to tentative agreements with Ontario and four Atlantic provinces.
Invited to comment on Thursday's meeting, ministers Girard and Roberge favored sobriety. The office of the Minister of Finance spoke of a “constructive working meeting to establish the next steps to formalize the agreement”.
In a statement released Thursday morning, the federal government first announced that it had reached an agreement with the Ontario government worth $74 billion over 10 years, including $8.4 billion in the part of the bilateral agreement.
The agreement with Ontario also provides for a top-up federal payment of $776 million, through the Canada Health Transfer, “to meet urgent needs”, especially in pediatric hospitals and emergency rooms, as well as long wait times for surgeries.
With The Canadian Press
For more information:
- Provinces agree to accept Healthy Ottawa offer
- Podcast | Health Transfers: From Discord to Resignation
