Opinion: Ottawa pledges $196 billion in health-care funding to provinces over 10 years

By John Feldstead Submitted

Canada is a confederation of ten equal provinces with separate areas of jurisdiction set out in the constitution sections 92 – 95. The federal government is intruding into provincial jurisdiction by using healthcare funding as a lever to direct provinces on how to deliver healthcare.

There cannot be variances in how individual provinces are treated. That impinges on provincial autonomy and equality.

For decades, the federal government has refused to allow private hospitals and clinics in any province, although that option is desperately needed. The reason cited is to prevent a two-tier system where people with money could access care others could not afford.

It is a socialist myth. Healthcare delivery is funded based on services delivered. Whether the service is publicly or privately delivered, the cost to the taxpayer is the same. Moreover, people who can afford it go outside Canada to access services rather than sit forever on a waiting list.

We need private investment in healthcare delivery facilities. Private investors can build facilities at far less cost than governments.

Governments must ensure their service fees include the value of land, buildings, equipment, staffing and forgiven taxes to level the playing field and attract private investment. Investors will determine what facilities they can provide while working within the funding framework. For example, investors may create a joint replacement facility to service an area. Once backlogs have been cleared, area hospitals can convert joint replacement facilities for other uses, saving money.

Investors can create diagnostic facilities and tackle current backlogs. They can operate 7/24 and reduce backlogs to where in-house public facilities have less of a diagnostic burden.

We need dedicated trauma centres where seriously ill or injured patients can be stabilized and sent to an appropriate after-care facility. The traditional emergency room service is not working.

We have 17 medical schools in Canada, but provincial physician’s colleges limit students to about 700 annually. That is unacceptable in a nation where tens of thousands can’t access a family doctor. We need to train thousands more doctors and nurses to fill the gaps in a broken system.

The federal government recently announced new national long-term care standards but they are not mandatory. The standards should have been referred to the provinces for amendment and mandatory adoption. Optional standards are not standards at all.

The federal government is constitutionally responsible for building military (marine) hospitals throughout Canada and for the healthcare of prison inmates, military personnel, the RCMP, some federal agency members, diplomatic core personnel, and indigenous people. Taking on those duties would provide a huge relief to our provincial healthcare delivery burden.

Continued on Page 19 breadth of efforts to attract applicants by collaborating with community and business in Manitoba;

• to streamline the MPNP through collaboration with the federal government and aligning the program to Manitoba’s evolving labour market, economic development and community needs; and

• to enhance Manitoba’s settlement, integration and foreign credential recognition programs and services, so more immigrants choose to stay in Manitoba, to the benefit of businesses, the economy and communities.

The minister noted the Manitoba government will consider the report’s rec- ommendations as it works collaboratively with stakeholders to further enhance the province’s ability to offer new opportunities for immigrants with a variety of skills and experiences from all over the world.

The minister highlighted the upcoming recruitment mission to the Philippines, to pave the way for hundreds of qualified internationally educated nurses to move and work here, aligns with one of the report’s recommendations to be proactive and competitive in recruiting skilled workers with the strong professional credentials needed to support Manitoba’s economy.