REGINA — Health care is top of mind for those attending the meeting of Western premiers in Regina.
The meeting is happening at the Hotel Saskatchewan and includes the premiers of British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and the hosts Saskatchewan, as well as the three Northern territories: Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon. It is the first such in-person meeting in over two years since the global pandemic started.
Sask. Premier Scott Moe and B.C. Premier John Horgan met the media Friday morning and indicated the major topic of their discussion that morning was health care delivery. They indicated a key issue for them is the Canada Health Transfer funding to the provinces.
Moe noted a key request of the Council of the Federation to the federal government is to be a “fair and a full funding partner in delivering provincially-delivered health care services.”
“In reality, this is about how we deliver services at the provincial level to Canadians from coast to coast to coast,” said Horgan.
Horgan said that throughout the pandemic the premiers had continued to raise the Canada Health Transfer as a “critical part of our ability to meet the expectations of our citizens.”
He noted the prime minister “repeatedly said that when we get past the pandemic will be the best time to have those conversations. Well, we’re here today, the pandemic is waning, it’s becoming endemic and it’s time now to have that conversation.”
Moe said what they are aiming for is to ensure existing services are sustainable into the future.
"Services like reducing our surgical wait times," Moe said. "Services like expanding our diagnostic services to reduce those wait times as well. Expanding and sustaining our primary health care access are access to medical health professionals whether that be a nurse practitioner, whether that be a physician."
He said in fairness the federal government agrees on the priorities. "What we need to do now is sit down and agree on what the funding level is to ensure these are sustainable into the future."
Horgan said the Council of the Federation would be meeting again in Victoria on July 10-12. He said he hoped this day would be "the beginning of that commitment from Ottawa to come sit with us."
"Now is the time. We don't need to wait any longer to do what the public expects of us, which is to work together to deliver the services that they depend on."
A news conference is expected later this afternoon on what came out of today’s meeting with the premiers.
Below, video from part of today's media scrum with Moe and Horgan.
