Facts
Canada is among the OECD countries that spend the most on health care. Ottawa’s health care transfers to the provinces have doubled since 2006, from $20 billion to $40 billion in 2019-20, with nothing to show for it.
The fundamental problem is that we are the only developed country where the government has a monopoly on medically required care. All other OECD countries have mixed private-public systems and (with the exception of the United States) universal systems that guarantee citizens equal access.
Our Plan
A People’s Party government will:
- Replace the Canada Health Transfer cash payments with a permanent transfer of tax points of equivalent value to the provinces and territories, to give them a stable source of revenue. In practice, Ottawa will give up its Goods and Services Tax (GST), and let provincial and territorial governments occupy this fiscal room. In 2019-20, the GST is expected to bring in $40 billion in revenues, the same amount currently transferred by Ottawa.
- Establish a temporary program to compensate poorer provinces whose revenues from the tax will be lower than the transfer payments they used to receive.
- Create the conditions for provincial and territorial governments to innovate. They will be fully responsible for health care funding and management, and fully accountable to their citizens for the results, while Ottawa will respect the Constitution and stop meddling.
