Federal government abdicating health care responsibility
As all governments during the past few decades have been rushing to decrease taxes in a race to the bottom.
Little mention during this time has been given by our provincial and federal elected politicians of the ongoing but diminishing share that the federal government has been putting in to our health care system.
Initially, the federal government provided half of the funding for our health care system.
Maude Barlow and Paul Moist (“Don’t Let Feds Abdicate Health Responsibility,” The Chronicle Herald, Apr. 26, 2014) state: “Over time, the federal government’s share of health-care spending will shrink to a small fraction of its original 50 per cent contribution – down to 18.6 percent by 2024. For Nova Scotia, this will mean a cut of $902 million for the health care services all Nova Scotians depend upon.”
The Harper formula of his imposed health accord in 2014, using the criterion of a per capita funding without consideration of the per capita need, would seem to have hit Nova Scotians much harder because of its older demographics.
The Parliamentary Budget Office and the Council of Federations recognize the cuts will be at least $36 billion at the end of this health accord. Other sources have estimated even higher cuts under this accord.
On the Council of Canadians’ website, the new federal arrangement by the Trudeau Liberal government means the share of federal funding will fall to as low as 14.3 percent by 2037.
Given these figures, it is clear the federal government is removing its footprint and responsibility for Canadians’ health care system even though most Canadians support public solutions to make health care stronger.
The previous Conservative Harper government and now the Liberal Trudeau government have by their similar agendas set in motion the effective removal of the required federal leadership in health care along with their weak or non-enforcement of the Canada Health Act
This planned dismantling of the federal government’s funding for our public health care system should make it obvious that electing representatives to a governing political party in an outdated electoral system is no guarantee the public’s demand for health care will be honoured.
A few years ago in British Columbia a 161 Citizens Assembly from all walks of life studied electoral reform for almost a year and selected Single Transferable Vote form of proportional representation that none of the political parties favoured.
Unless this citizen selected electoral reform form of proportional representation is implemented, political parties with their own agendas will continue to govern in the interest of a minority of Canadians.