CHILLIWACK — Canada’s premiers are urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to meet with them at his earliest opportunity to discuss long-term, predictable funding for health care.
Premiers from all the provinces and territories are part of a group called the Council of the Federation, and they held a post-election meeting by phone today to discuss their need for more money.
British Columbia Premier John Horgan chairs the group, and says the federal government has diminished its contribution to public health care for too long and must now increase its share of health costs to 35 per cent through the Canada Health Transfer.
The transfer currently provides 22 per cent of funding, based on the size of a population.
Horgan says the premiers want to meet with Trudeau before the throne speech or certainly by the end of the year.
He says publicly funded health care is the premiers’ top priority as a fundamental part of Canadian society.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2021.
The Canadian Press
