MINISTER DION STATES THAT QUEBECERS ARE RIGHT TO WANT THEIR GOVERNMENTS TO WORK TOGETHER

SHERBROOKE, QUEBEC, January 14, 2003 – The Honourable Stéphane Dion, President of the Privy Council and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, said today that Quebecers, like other Canadians, want governments to work together on the issue of funding and improving health care. Mr. Dion also called on the Premier of Quebec to adopt such an attitude of cooperation and thus set aside his warlike rhetoric, which is completely unjustified.

The Minister mentioned first that the Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Honourable Jean Chrétien, will soon be meeting with his provincial colleagues to agree on a plan in this sector. Increased federal transfers to the provinces for health will be confirmed in the next Budget.

Noting that the Government of Canada has enough flexibility to proceed with such an increase, Mr. Dion nevertheless pointed out that budgetary prudence is still required. He recalled that at the meeting of finance ministers last December 17 and 18, the provinces called on the federal government to make a reinvestment to the tune of $24.7 billion over the next four years, or 30.7% more than was suggested in the Romanow Report. The Finance Minister, the Honourable John Manley, has already said it will be very difficult for him to find such an amount.

"The Government of Canada will do its best, but without falling back into deficit. You know full well it is not awash in money. Keep in mind that the federal debt load of $536 billion is over twice as high as that of the provinces. The Government of Canada's surplus, which stood at $8.9 billion for the last completed budget year, may seem substantial, but it would melt like snow in summer if we relaxed our budgetary prudence," said Mr. Dion.

The Minister cited a recent report by the International Monetary Fund, which described Canada's macroeconomic performance since the mid-1990s as exceptional, and that it owes much to the sound policy framework and its skillful implementation. He stressed that this spectacular turnaround of Canada’s economy, and the country’s success in putting its financial house in order, must not "lead us into complacency or into relaxing budgetary discipline."

Mr. Dion emphasized that total health spending (private and public) was $112 billion in 2002, or 9.8% of GDP, one of the highest percentages of all countries. That being said, "additional federal funding will have an impact only if it helps to fund reforms that will have structuring effects. Improving our health system is not just a question of money. Mr. Landry has said so himself in a television interview on March 15, 2000. We need clear objectives."

The President of the Privy Council then addressed the issue of targeted transfers, and reiterated his desire for first ministers to agree on an action plan that will take account of the needs and the context of every province and territory. "The Government of Canada wants to help the provinces achieve objectives that they also share. Targeted transfers have no other objectives than that of helping governments in our federation to attain these goals and to be accountable for them to the public," he said.

Pointing out that targeted funding is fully constitutional, Mr. Dion added that Quebecers share that opinion as well. "The results of a recent poll indicated that two thirds of them agree that additional federal funding for health be targeted to previously identified health services. In fact, Quebecers, like other Canadians, want their governments to agree on a plan to make lasting improvements to health care quality and accessibility," said the Minister.

That desire by Quebecers for their governments to work together in an atmosphere of mutual respect led Minister Dion to draw the following conclusion: "And if we must use warlike language, let it be not to divide us, but rather to unite us so that we can more effectively ‘fight’ illness, ‘defeat’ poverty and exclusion and ‘conquer’ new markets. That’s the type of ‘war’ we ought to wage together.".

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