As Ontario tries to allow private clinics to perform more surgeries, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he will monitor the principles of Canada’s universal public system.
“It’s one of the federal government’s core responsibilities in matters of health care delivery, to ensure that the Canada Health Act is always followed,” Trudeau told reporters at an event in Saskatchewan on Monday, referring to the law that outlines Canada’s publicly funded health insurance system and sets out the goals of national health policy.
“This is what we will continue to see across the country as people respond in different ways to provide better services to Canadians in health care,” Trudeau said.
On Monday, Ontario unveiled a three-step plan that would see some for-profit community surgery and diagnostic centers take over certain additional surgeries and other medical procedures in an effort to reduce the province’s surgical backlog, which results in significant wait times for patients.
During the announcement, Ontario Premier Doug Ford indicated that the incoming changes to the system will be permanent.
While he did not say whether he supported Ford’s move, the prime minister said he and the premiers were “very much on the same page” when it came to the health care system, which needs more investment and, as a result, improved care for the Canadians.
“Whether it’s more access to doctors and primary care teams, whether it’s faster access to mental health support, whether it’s reducing the backlog of operations. There are many things we are working on with the provinces,” Trudeau said.
PROTECTION OF PUBLIC SHOULD BE A CONDITION: SINGH
Ford’s announcement drew the ire of federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who raised alarm in a statement alleging Ford is handing over part of Ontario’s health care system to for-profit corporations at the expense of patients.
“World-class healthcare should be waiting for you when you need it. We can best achieve this by rebuilding and growing our public system – by not allowing Conservative prime ministers to destroy it with US-style for-profit health care corporations,” Singh said.
The NDP leader called on Trudeau to make protecting the universal public health system a condition of any future increase in the federal health transfer.
Asked Monday about the status of a deal with the provinces to increase the Canada Health Transfer — which some prime ministers have recently expressed optimism about — Trudeau said he looked forward to “being able to announce positive steps forward in the very near future.”
The premiers want Ottawa to increase transfers to 35 percent from the current 22 percent of health care cost coverage, while Trudeau has insisted that any increase in federal funds would have to come with a specific plan for provincial accountability.
Singh also expressed concern about the potential impact on care and attempts to charge patients more “when profits are the priority.”
“Trudeau is willing to allow provinces to funnel federal health care dollars into the pockets of for-profit corporate investors. I’m not,” Singh said.
As for privatisation, health experts warn of the possibility of exacerbating hospital staff shortages, arguing that investing in independent centers will drain resources from the public sector.
“WE HAVE A PUBLIC SYSTEM THAT I SUPPORT”: POILIEVRE
During an interview with CTV News Winnipeg on Friday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he does not support privatized health care when it comes to “basic needs.”
“We have a public system that I support. I believe everyone should be able to get public health care. This is the system I’ve relied on all my life. And I think that’s the system we should keep; a system that gives public insurance for all the basic needs of our health care,” he said.
Poilievre said if he were prime minister, he would work with the provinces to ensure Canadians get “prompt publicly funded care for their basic needs,” while calling the current system a “complete disaster.”
With files from Catherine DeClerk of CTV News Toronto
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