Manitoba, federal health ministers meet over bilateral agreement

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This article was published 15/11/2023 (732 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The NDP government is drafting a new plan to spend more than $1 billion in federal health-care funding.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said the newly-elected government is seeking changes to Manitoba’s recent bilateral agreement with Ottawa that reflects the NDP’s “priorities and values.”

The former Progressive Conservative government inked an agreement-in-principle with the federal Liberal government in February for a bilateral funding arrangement worth $1.2 billion over 10 years.

“My focus is on what our plan is going to be, and my focus is on our government taking an approach that has not been seen in Manitoba for a number of years at the provincial level, which is an approach that puts people first,” Asagwara said Wednesday.

Former premier Heather Stefanson was at the helm of the Council of the Federation as it pushed Ottawa for a new deal on the Canada Health Transfer in early February; the premiers agreed to a 10-year, $196-billion health funding deal.

Of that, about $25 billion was set aside for one-on-one agreements between the federal and provincial governments.

Provinces were required to develop specific, three-year action plans to demonstrate how the bilateral money would be spent and include targets and timelines for improvements, as part of the agreement.

Priority areas for the former government included surgical backlogs, primary care and credential recognition for internationally trained health-care workers.

Asagwara would not comment on the status of the province’s bilateral agreement nor action plan prior to the NDP forming government Oct. 3.

The Union Station MLA met with federal Health Minister Mark Holland on Wednesday to discuss the agreement. He was in Winnipeg to announce funding for HIV and sexually-transmitted and blood-borne infection testing and prevention programs.

“We are working on an action plan that reflects our government’s priorities and that prioritizes putting Manitobans first and foremost, and that was a key component of the meeting today,” Asagwara said.

The health minister described the government’s priorities as solving the health-care staffing crisis, strengthening the system and improving health-care outcomes. Asagwara said the NDP government is ready to partner and engage with Ottawa to deliver on its priorities.

“My intentions and our intentions as a government are to take a new approach to health care in Manitoba, one that sees us working collaboratively and constructively with the federal government.”

Asagwara said the two ministers also talked about the importance of “taking an approach to health care that is evidence based, that is compassionate, and that is focused on strengthening the health-care system across Manitoba.”

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca