When the Premiers were first called to a sit-down lunch to talk about health care with Prime Minister Trudeau, there was plenty of talk about the potential for systemic change, innovation and accountability. It seemed that Canadians and their leaders were finally on the same page in recognizing that health care, as it is, is largely broken and money alone isn’t going to fix it.
The $196.1 billion is an overwhelming figure which, once dissected, is little more than smoke and mirrors. The money covers a 10-year period, which means that the provinces shouldn’t bother asking Ottawa for more health care money each year. It includes just $46.2 ofmoney, which, over 10 years, leaves just $4.6 billion in new spending each year to be divided amongst the 10 provinces and two territories.
Billions of dollars are always a substantial investment, but, in this case, it suggests a shocking lack of leadership and vision when it seems Canadians are looking for wholesale changes that will ensure timely care.that came out just before the premiers’ meeting showed that Canadians’ attitudes to health care are shifting rapidly.
But a two-year pandemic and a rapidly aging population are chipping away at that ideal. Canadians are finally waking up to the fact that this underlying principle is not enough to provide access to medical care., more than 1.2 million Canadians were on wait lists for various surgeries and procedures. More than one in five Canadians cannot find a family doctor.