Photo: Jacques Boissinot Archives The Canadian Press The minister responsible for Canadian Relations, Jean-François Roberge (left), admitted that he was “disappointed” on Wednesday, as did his colleague at Health, Christian Dubé.
Isabelle Porter in Quebec
March 20, 2024
- Canada
Failing to have been able to obtain the $6 billion in transfers it hoped for from Ottawa, Quebec consoles itself by saying that it has at least prevented the Trudeau government from imposing conditions on it .
“We did not win the case on the amount. […] Now, the negotiations of the last few months focused on the conditions and Ottawa wanted us to sign over three years with indicators, targets, accountability and we held our ground,” the Minister responsible for Canadian Relations reacted on Wednesday, Jean-François Roberge.
After months of negotiations, Quebec and Ottawa confirmed late Tuesday the conclusion of an agreement in principle on federal health transfers.
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The Quebec government wanted to obtain $6 billion per year from Ottawa to finance its health services over the next ten years. He ultimately only received $900 million.
Mr. Roberge, like his colleague at Health, Christian Dubé, admitted that they were “disappointed” on Wednesday.
Ottawa gives in on conditions
Ottawa, however, confirmed that it had indeed given in on the issue of accountability. “There are no conditions,” Federal Health Minister Mark Holland said Tuesday evening.
However, this is very little in the eyes of the opposition in Quebec. The leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, sees this as further proof of the relevance of establishing the sovereignty of Quebec. “A deficit of 11 billion is directly linked to the health transfer of 5 billion that we are missing. The decline of French is frustrating, but it is directly linked to the fact that we control neither our borders, nor our airport, nor the official languages of Canada,” he said.
“We are so far from the 6 billion requested by Quebec,” criticized Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois of Québec solidaire. Not only do we have a government that is not capable of raising money, but which is also not capable of providing good health services. »
The Liberal Party of Quebec also attacked the government on the issue. “François Legault, with health transfers, we can see that his third way is not working,” said interim chief Marc Tanguay.