When the Premiers were first called to a sit-down lunch to talk about healthcare 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 healthcare, as it is, is largely broken and money alone isn’t going to fix it.
But the meeting has come and gone, and there were no new ideas and no talk of change. The Prime Minister offered the premiers a big wad of cash over a two-hour luncheon and the key message was take it or leave it.
Trudeau’s offer of $196.1 billion sounds like a major investment, but it isn’t. The premiers asked the federal government to increase its share of health spending from 22% to 35% (the equivalent of $28 billion per year). Given Trudeau’s rampant spending spree over the past seven years, that was never going to happen — but little did the provinces expect the offer to be less than a one percent increase in federal funding.
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 only means that the provinces shouldn’t bother to ask Ottawa for more healthcare money each year. It includes just $46.2 of new money which, over 10 years, leaves just $4.6 billion in new spending each year to be divided amongst the 10 provinces and two territories.
Of the $46.2 billion in new spending, $2 billion was earmarked for urgent needs in children’s hospitals and Emergency departments; $17.3 billion is to provide a funding boost over the next decade, $1.7 billion will top up salaries over five years and $25 billion over 10 years will be negotiated with each province independently after it submits a specific healthcare delivery plan for the money. Apparently, these plans will be necessary (and sufficient) to check the accountability box on the federal budget sheet.
No wonder the premiers were underwhelmed and offered reporters comments such as “disappointed” (Manitoba); it’s “a starting point; a down payment” (Ontario) and “insufficient” (Quebec).
Billions of dollars are always a substantial investment but, in this case, it suggests a shocking lack of leadership and vision at a time when it seems that Canadians are looking for wholesale changes that will ensure timely care.
An Ipsos poll that came out just prior to the premiers’ meeting showed that Canadians’ attitudes to healthcare are shifting rapidly (https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/news-polls/healthcare-more-money-more-accountability). A full 85% of Canadians now believe that “drastic changes” are needed to the healthcare system and six in 10 (59%) support the private delivery of publicly-funded health services. The same number (60%) say that those who can afford private care should be able to use it.
Finally, one-third of Canadians (32%) would go the United States and personally pay to receive routine healthcare, while 29% would do so to receive urgent or emergency care.
The numbers represent a changing perspective on healthcare, and that means politicians should be listening. For 60 years, Canadians have pinned their healthcare hopes on the symbolic and non-tangible principle that universal healthcare will take care of our medical needs. We may have to wait a bit longer than those in other countries, but universal access to healthcare works and it is the Canadian way.
But a two-year pandemic and a rapidly aging population are chipping away at that ideal and Canadians are finally realizing that this underlying principle is not enough to provide access (let alone timely access) to medical care.
According to a recent report, more than 1.2 million Canadians were on wait lists for various surgeries and procedures. (https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/waiting-your-turn-wait-times-for-health-care-in-canada-2022) More than one in five Canadians cannot find a family doctor. Access to non-emergent mental health care takes years and the media routinely cover deaths related to wait lists for care and/or overwhelmed emergency departments.
There is limited access to diagnostic medical technology (CT, MRI and PET scans) even though their use is routine in other developed, wealthy nations. We need doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers. We are far behind other nations in terms of transitioning to electronic records and the use of virtual care for remote areas.
Yes, the system needs money. But it also needs leadership. Trudeau seems content to let others deal with a broken system and the Conservative party has had little to offer at a time when the appetite for change runs deep. The NDP’s proposed Pharmacare would only create more pressure on an overburdened system.
Healthcare is in desperate need of creative leadership and the job remains open to anyone with an innovative spirit. Apply within. Please.
Susan Martinuk is a Senior Fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and author of Patients at Risk: Exposing Canada’s Health-care Crisis.
