National

Health fund talks end without deal as feds balk

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 08 Nov, 2022 04:43 PM

VANCOUVER - The federal government has withdrawn from a joint communique with provincial and territorial health ministers, ending widely anticipated meetings in Vancouver without any agreement to boost health-care funding.

British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix, who called it a "disappointing" end to the meetings, had previously said provincial and territorial ministers were united behind a request for federal funding to be increased to 35 per cent, up from 22 per cent.

However, Dix says the federal government withdrew from both a joint communique and a later news conference, because it was unhappy about a statement Canada's premiers issued today.

The statement reiterates the premiers' request for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to meet with them at a national conference on the federal health transfer.

Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Monday that the government was ready to boost the transfer, with various conditions, including a commitment to a common set of health benchmarks and data sharing, a position Trudeau echoed.

But Dix says the provincial and territorial ministers "couldn't move forward" based on what he called "small sound bites from the prime minister.”

"They made the decision not to participate," Dix said of the federal government.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Workers, employers want feds to pay off EI debt

The program, which is financed entirely through premiums paid by workers and employers, accumulated $25.9 billion of debt by the end of 2021, according to the Office of the Chief Actuary. The rise in debt comes after a staggering number of Canadians were unemployed during the pandemic and eligibility rules for the program were relaxed to ease access to jobless benefits.

Workers, employers want feds to pay off EI debt

How the B.C. drought benefits some farmers

British Columbia is enduring a record-breaking dry spell, but farmer Amir Mann says the drought is far preferable to other recent weather extremes. Mann and others involved in agriculture say the downside of the drought, which has required some crops to be irrigated, is offset by benefits such as a longer harvesting period and little rot.

How the B.C. drought benefits some farmers

Wildfire flares on Vancouver's North Shore

West Vancouver Fire Rescue duty chief Matt Furlot says crews responded at around 7 a.m. He said they were trying to pinpoint the exact location of the fire and the best way to access to the flames.

Wildfire flares on Vancouver's North Shore

VPD arrests suspect in two sexual assaults

At 7:30 p.m. on July 6, a 24-year-old woman reported she had been sexually assaulted while on the escalator at the Granville SkyTrain Station by a suspect who ran away. The investigation was completed by Metro Vancouver Transit Police. A second incident occurred the following day on West Broadway at Ash Street. Just before 2 p.m. a 38-year-old woman was sexually assaulted.

VPD arrests suspect in two sexual assaults

93 year old man knocked to the ground and suffers broken hip in stranger attack

The victim – a neighbourhood resident for 30 years – was walking to a bakery near Main Street and East Pender when he was pushed over by a stranger around 3:15 Tuesday afternoon. Several witnesses stopped to help the senior, who was taken to hospital.

93 year old man knocked to the ground and suffers broken hip in stranger attack

B.C. readies for post-drought flooding: government

Emergency Management BC says when rain falls after long dry spells, the parched soil can increase runoff and river flow. It says the transition to the rainy season doesn't typically cause extensive flooding and the devastation wreaked by last year's atmospheric rivers was rare.