Ontario: Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc said that the federal government wants to sign long-term funding agreements with provinces and territories before presenting the 2023 federal budget.
LeBlanc said strengthening the health care system by compromising with provinces is a key priority for the Liberal government. LeBlanc also confirmed that the federal government is willing to sign an agreement to increase the funding to be given to provinces, which canada health transfer (CHT), as well as to put federal funds in key priority areas over the coming ten years.
In an interview during the ongoing Liberal Cabinet Retreat in Hamilton, Ontario, LeBlanc said he did not expect a deal in the coming two weeks, but hoped to reach an agreement that would benefit Canadians before the federal budget.
He said the issue is also likely to be discussed in more detail with the provinces in the coming weeks. LeBlanc said he thinks the premiers are right if they think the five-year deal isn’t enough to address some of the key health care challenges. He attributed the growing population of Canada to the ageing population for this step.
Ensuring access to family health teams, reducing the surgical backlog and improving staffing are some of the key things that the federal government is looking at at right now, he said. He said this was also the main topic of discussion in the Federal Liberal Cabinet Retreat.