Ottawa withholds N.B. health transfer

MONCTON, N.B. • New Brunswick is failing to live up to its obligations under the Canada Health Act because it continues to make it difficult for women to access abortions, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.

As a consequence, the federal government is withholding health-care transfers to the province, Trudeau told reporters in Moncton.

“Making sure that every woman across this country has access to reliable reproductive services is extremely important to us, and that’s why we’ve continued to impress strongly upon the government of New Brunswick how it needs to keep up its obligations under the Canada Health Act,” Trudeau said.

The prime minister initially said Ottawa was holding back millions of dollars, but a spokesperson from the Prime Minister’s Office said after the news conference the correct figure is $140,216.

When reached for comment Tuesday, a spokesperson with the office of New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs referred The Canadian Press to a news conference the premier gave on July 23. Higgs had told reporters he found it “disappointing that every election the Trudeau government wants to make (abortion) an issue.” The premier had said the Horizon Health Network didn’t think it necessary to add abortion services in the province.

New Brunswick law bans government funding for abortions conducted outside three approved hospitals. The provincial government subsidizes abortions at two hospitals in Moncton and one in Bathurst, but it won’t cover the cost of the procedure at a clinic in Fredericton.