Out of moves, Pallister makes the right one

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/04/2017 (3100 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was a step in the right direction, even if that direction was in reverse.

After weeks of posturing and what could only be interpreted as stubborn refusal to read the writing on the wall, Premier Brian Pallister took a step back, took a deep breath and declared that Manitoba is finally ready to negotiate a deal on health-care funding with Ottawa.

Why it took this long to recognize that this made-in-Manitoba impasse could only end one way is open to discussion; what matters at this point is that this province’s precariously weak position as the last remaining holdout in the health-accord arena might now be resolved in a manner that gets crucial health-care dollars flowing in Manitoba’s direction.

The timing of Mr. Pallister’s positional shift — on the eve of a much-anticipated announcement by the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority regarding future sustainability of health-care services and just one week before the release of the 2017 provincial budget — is particularly interesting, since neither the WRHA’s planning nor the province’s financial forecasts can proceed with much certainty in the absence of a firm grasp of what Ottawa’s contribution to health-care funding will be.

Relations between the province and Ottawa have been in decline for several months, beginning last fall with Mr. Pallister’s charge that the Liberals had reneged on a federal-government pledge to improve the cost-sharing formula for health care. The ill will intensified after Mr. Pallister sought, unsuccessfully, to enlist all provinces in a united rejection of the Liberals’ alternative health-care offer. Instead of establishing himself as a newcomer with immediate influence on the federal-provincial scene, Mr. Pallister soon found himself alone, without a deal and with his unraveled major-player ambitions in full view.

Left, as he was, as the last premier without a health-care agreement — and with a three per cent annual funding increase plus additional cash from an $11.5-billion fund for mental-health services and home care hanging in the balance — Mr. Pallister’s hand was forced.

Still, the premier continued to try to play hardball, stating last week that he wouldn’t accept Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s verbal assurance that status of the so-called Factory of the Future — a $60 million aerospace and automotive research hub promised for Manitoba — was not in jeopardy because of Manitoba’s health-care holdout. Mr. Pallister needed to see it in writing.

Questioning the sincerity of the offer, or the honesty of the person making it, was an odd strategic choice, particularly from a premier who, himself, is asking Manitobans to take him at his word as he embarks on an ambitious and probably austere effort to improve the province’s financial situation.

Thankfully, something — or, perhaps, someone — convinced Mr. Pallister that a very public change of heart was in order. And with that, the premier stepped in front of the microphones and cameras and stated, “On reflection, I think I should take the the word of the prime minister on things like this.”

It doesn’t mean that a health-care agreement with Ottawa is all but signed. There are still many details, including Mr. Pallister’s presumed effort to negotiate funding commitments for opioid-addiction treatment and prevention and consideration of other regional concerns into the deal, to be considered.

Monday’s backward step was the right one, even if it came at a time when there were no other moves left to make.