(Quebec) The Minister of Health of Quebec, Christian Dubé, urges the federal government to offer more money to the provinces in health, and not less as Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced Friday morning.
Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said he would keep tens of millions of dollars earmarked for the provinces, because of their reliance on the private sector for telemedicine services.
Of the $82 million that Ottawa cut from the provinces, $41 million is withdrawn from Quebec. In a press conference, Mr. Duclos was unable to explain why Quebec, whose population represents 23% of that of the country, suffered half the impact.
In a statement sent by his press secretary, Minister Dubé said that if the federal government really wanted to serve Quebec, it should improve its transfers, not strip them.
He argued that the private sector should be called upon to “complement” the public sector.
This makes it possible to offer more care to the population, he argued.
“Our agreements with certain private medical clinics during the pandemic, which made it possible to perform more than 150,000 surgeries free of charge for Quebecers, are a good example of this,” said the Minister.
“Now, health is the exclusive jurisdiction of Quebec. If it wants to serve Quebeckers, we believe that the federal government should put more money on the table rather than taking it away. We will manage. »
Mr. Duclos pointed out that the provinces that take corrective action will be able to recover these sums over the next two years.
