Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a year-end interview with a Quebec TV station on Dec. 20 dismissed the idea that a federal election could take place next year and said he wouldn’t meet with premiers on health care unless a deal has already been struck.
“No, no, no,” Trudeau told TVA Nouvelles when asked about the possibility of an election in 2023. “There is too much work to do, and we have a deal with the NDP.”
“It’s a moment and a way to demonstrate that a progressive government—which wants to fight against climate change, move forward on reconciliation, ensure that we create economic growth which benefits everyone—can deliver.”
Trudeau’s minority in the House of Commons is being bolstered by a confidence and supply agreement with the NDP, in which the Liberals advance social programs sought by the NDP in exchange for its support for the government on confidence votes.
Trudeau also touched upon the issue of the current health care crisis in the country, with the premiers of provinces and territories requesting a joint meeting with the prime minister on the issue to address federal health transfers.
Meanwhile Trudeau does not want to provide extra cash without first establishing conditions, notably obtaining the health data on citizens from provinces.
“We can’t be meeting to afterwards say that we haven’t reached an agreement,” said Trudeau.
“When people see premiers meet, it will be to announce that we’re going to improve the system together.”
Trudeau says the federal government needs to be able to compare how the provinces deliver health care as not all provinces collect data the same way or with the same quality.
He said the data collected would not be shared with the federal government, but rather with an organ created by the provinces and the federal government.
The data needs to be collected evenly, Trudeau said, in order to be able to compare what is going well in one province and what is not as good elsewhere.
Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos criticized the country’s health care data systems in a recent press conference, calling it of “mediocre class.”
On Dec. 6 and Dec. 14, Duclos mentioned the lack of readily available information on the vaccination status of patients to provide examples on the need to improve the sharing of health data.
