Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott says that as a family doctor she had encountered heartbreaking stories daily from patients who could not access publicly funded counselling. The federal government made an offer Monday afternoon that would have provided $11.5-billion over 10 years for mental health and home care.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott has vowed to continue pushing for a deal that will expand coverage for mental-health services, drawing inspiration from her years as a family doctor in Markham, Ont.
Speaking to The Globe and Mail one day after a year of talks between Ottawa and the provinces failed to produce a new decade-long health accord in time for a federally imposed Monday deadline, Dr. Philpott fought back emotion as she discussed the dashed hopes of mental-health advocates.
Dr. Philpott said that as a family doctor she would encounter heartbreaking stories daily from patients who could not access publicly funded counselling. "I was the only person that many of them could turn to," she said in explaining why she made the issue a focus of Monday's meeting.
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The federal government made an offer Monday afternoon that would have provided $11.5-billion over 10 years for mental health and home care, as well as a new health-transfer formula that would fix the rate of annual increases at 3.5 per cent for the next five years.
Provinces rejected the deal as insufficient to meet growing health-care needs and said the offer would actually see the federal share of health spending decline over time.
"I started off the day feeling very hopeful, because I really thought it was going to be a day to deliver a game-changer for Canadians," Dr. Philpott said. "Mental-health advocates were watching and feeling like they could have some hope as well and we were all disappointed."
Ottawa's insistence that billions in new federal money be devoted specifically to mental health and home care also helped derail the possibility of a deal Monday.
Provincial and territorial ministers said they agree those issues are important, but that health needs vary across the country and the priority should be to shore up existing health services before expanding public coverage into new areas.
Dr. Philpott's suggestions that extra layers of accountability were required given the lack of results from previous health accords clearly irritated some provinces.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne dismissed that argument as a "red herring" Tuesday in an interview with The Globe and Mail.
"I have sat at all those tables with the premiers and never once have I heard anybody say that they weren't committed to investing in mental health and home care," she said. "We could have a discussion about how those dollars would flow but we needed to also see that enhancement to the base because there are other issues that we have to address in health care as well."
Ms. Wynne said the issue should now be put before a first ministers meeting of premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
She said Ottawa's offer Monday was not acceptable because it would have gradually reduced the federal share of health spending from the current 23 per cent to closer to 20 per cent.
The Premier repeated her view that the Canada Health Transfer should grow by 5.2 per cent annually.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau had set Monday as a deadline to strike a deal. Since no agreement was reached, transfers will continue under a formula first announced by the Conservatives in 2011 that will see transfer growth reduced to 3 per cent from 6 per cent next year.
The transfer could increase in the future as it is tied to a formula based on a three-year rolling average for nominal GDP growth, or 3 per cent, whichever is higher.
When the formula was first announced in 2011, a Finance Canada document said the transfer would likely grow in the range of 4 per cent annually based on long-term trends, however economic growth has since underperformed expectations.
The Liberal Party's 2015 election platform promised to negotiate a new health accord with the provinces and territories, "including a long-term agreement on funding." It also promised $3-billion over 4 years for home care as "an immediate commitment," which suggested more money would be offered through the health-care negotiations.
New Brunswick Finance Minister Cathy Rogers said late Monday that she was conditionally supportive of the federal offer and would be pursuing a bilateral deal.
Dr. Philpott and Mr. Morneau issued a statement Monday evening that suggested a willingness to entertain such a discussion.
"We are open to working with each interested province and territory to deliver on these important investments in mental health and home care," they said. However, Dr. Philpott said Tuesday that it was too soon to say what Ottawa will do next.
Quebec Finance Minister Carlos Leitao described New Brunswick's position as "unfortunate" and stressed the importance of provincial and territorial unity on the issue.
"I think there is a very wide consensus that we need to stick together to be able to accomplish a more viable program not just for this year or next, but for the next 10 years," he said. "That's what was so objectionable about the whole process [Monday]. We were asked to commit to something for the next 10 years after a couple of hours of discussion, and that's just not possible."
Bill Curry