The first in-person meeting of health ministers is now over and unfortunately we have to admit that we did not make all the progress we had hoped for.

November 8, 2022 | Vancouver, BC | Health Canada

Good afternoon everyone,

The first in-person meeting of health ministers is now over and unfortunately, we have to admit that we did not make all the progress we had hoped for.

We came here in good faith, hoping to build on the unprecedented level of collaboration between federal, provincial, and territorial governments we have seen through the pandemic.

Starting in February 2022, and in the months leading up to this meeting - at the initiative of our colleagues from provincial governments -  our officials have worked diligently and collaboratively on two very important initiatives that we were genuinely hoping to announce and action today, at the first in-person Health Ministers’ Meeting since 2018 :

1. A Pan-Canadian Action Plan to Address Health Workforce Challenges and to support health workers; and
2. The Pan-Canadian Health Data Strategy to improve the quality and the safety of care to Canadians

Before the meeting was even over, before discussions on these two essential items were even concluded, the Premiers release a statement calling the meeting a failure.

That is not exactly what we would call meaningful engagement at this meeting.

Unfortunately, despite yesterday’s gesture of good faith, provincial and territorial colleagues have been marching orders by their Premiers not to make further progress.

As a result, the Premiers are preventing us from taking concrete and tangible steps that would make an immediate difference in the daily life of health workers and patients.

Obviously, this is disappointing.

Canadians expect and deserve more than this.

Canadians expect and deserve us to be grounded in the real needs of our communities, our health workers and patients.

As we all know, the publicly funded, universal heath-care system we all cherish as Canadians is at an important crossroads.

The pandemic has shown us what we can achieve when we work together. It has shown us that there is a different way to do things.

Instead of allowing my Health Minister colleagues to do their work and engage in a constructive and meaningful conversation about the future of healthcare in this country, Premiers are forcing my colleagues to speak of only one thing – and one thing only: money.

All that Premiers keep saying is that they want an unconditional increase of the Canada Health Transfer sent to their finance ministers.

That is not a plan.

That is the old way of doing things.

If there was anyone still doubting it, the current crisis is the undeniable proof that the old way doesn’t work.

We need to do things differently.

We need to allow Health Ministers do their work.

We need to work together on the fundamental changes that are required to ensure the long-term survival of Canada’s universal and publicly-funded healthcare system.

We need to work together so that health workers can do their jobs without sacrificing their own health and safety in the process.

We need to work together so that patients everywhere in Canada can get the care they need, when they need it and where they need it.

These are fundamental priorities that we all agree upon.

Why in the world won’t Premiers let us Health Ministers work on these priorities?

These common priorities are based on the principles at the heart of the Canada Health Act.

The Act that legally guarantees the existence of our publicly-funded, universal healthcare system and defines my role as federal Health Minister.

These are the basics we need to go back to.

Premiers keep insisting on money and a First Ministers’ Meeting.

Once again, I will be very clear: before we start talking about the means, we need to talk about the ends.

And that can only happen and continue to happen at the Health Ministers’ Table.

Thank you.

The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, P.C., M.P.

Associated

• Statement by the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos at the Health Ministers’ Meeting
• Backgrounder - Coalition for Action for Health Workers
• Canada’s Health Workforce
• Budget 2022: Strong Public Health Care
• Canada commits $2 billion in additional health care funding to clear backlogs and support hundreds of thousands of additional surgeries

Contacts

Marie-France Proulx
Director of Communications
Office of the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos
Minister of Health
613-957-0200

Media Relations
Health Canada
613-957-2983
media@hc-sc.gc.ca