Chorus of opposition

N.S. health minister adds concern about federal plan to cut Canada health transfer

Nova Scotia Health Minister Leo Glavine is joining a chorus of regional opposition to a federal Liberal plan to cut in half the amount of money Ottawa provides the provinces for health care each year.

It is absolutely not the time to reduce the rate of the Canada health transfer to three per cent from six per cent, especially with ballooning health demands and an aging population, Glavine said in an interview Wednesday.

“The province of Nova Scotia wants to see the six per cent escalator retained at this point in time,” Glavine said.

In interviews this week with The Canadian Press, health ministers across the country —including B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario — voiced concern with the Liberal government’s proposal, which is set to take effect in April 2017.

Ontario’s Liberal government, which maintains a close relationship with Justin Trudeau’s federal Liberal party, made it cannot possibly support the pitch.

“Ontario is not alone in expressing its concerns about the changes that the previous government introduced for the funding formula, which could represent a $1 billion decline in federal funding in 2017-18 alone,” Eric Hoskins said in a statement Tuesday.

“We hope that the federal government will show some flexibility and a willingness to listen to the provinces and territories and work together with us in a collaborative way.”

Glavine said he expects a pointed discussion when Health Minister Jane Philpott sits down with her provincial counterparts in Toronto on Oct. 18.

“I absolutely believe we can make some headway,” he said.

“None of us as provincial ministers ... we are not going to lessen the ask. Being on the frontline of what the demands are in the system, we have to speak up for the citizens of our province.”

For her part, Philpott continues to push for the dialogue on measures to reform health care rather than on finances.