Premiers to meet Monday on federal government's health-care offer
Will discuss Ottawa's offer of $46.2B in new money
Canada's premiers will meet next week to discuss a health-care funding proposal from the federal government.
Some premiers had reported the meeting was scheduled for Friday, but a spokesperson for Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson says they have agreed to meet Monday afternoon.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau presented premiers with Ottawa's offer on Tuesday — a plan to flow roughly $46.2 billion in new money to the provinces and territories over 10 years to help prop up a faltering health-care system.
The premiers haven't accepted the offer yet and Stefanson, the Council of the Federation chair, says it is "significantly less" than what the premiers are looking for.
A spokesperson for the Council of the Federation Secretariat said the decision to meet on Monday is due to some premiers travelling after the first ministers' meeting with Trudeau in Ottawa this week.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford met with federal Health Minister Jean Yves-Duclos and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc on Thursday to talk about the proposal. Ford said the meeting was productive but there's still "a little bit" of work to do.
Clarifications
- This article has been updated to clarify that while some premiers had expected the meeting to take place Friday, the date of the meeting was confirmed to take place Monday by the office of the chair of the Council of the Federation, Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson.Feb 10, 2023 10:49 AM ET
With files from Janyce McGregor and David Cochrane