A crumbling health care system cracks at the very foundation of not only this country but who we are as a people.
Saints, it has been said, are the sinners who kept on trying.
For first ministers across Canada, their road to redemption may well run through Feb. 7. That’s when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and premiers will gather to start negotiating a new deal on the federal government’s funding for health services.
Hope, for this reason, is in the air as a sense that previously insurmountable differences will — at last — be cast aside for the greater good. And yet, many can only muster the most cautious sense of optimism. Because, let’s face it, Canadians have been let down on this issue countless times before. Politics has interfered; talking points have prevailed.
As a result, our health care system is now beyond the breaking point. Patients are suffering. Doctors and nurses are exhausted and burnt-out. Wait-lists are surging. Innovation is stalling and investment is falling to dangerous levels.
What most of us feel, at best, is hope of a kind: like the branch you cling to before the current carries you over the falls. The reality is this: none of the significant problems in our health care system will fully get fixed until the federal government returns to its role and pays its share. Point finale.
While there are few reference points for the kind of selfless political leadership required to solve the health care crisis, one does come to mind: the efforts to patriate the Constitution and entrench the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the early 1980s.
Memorably, Bill Davis played a leading role in negotiations between the provinces and federal government, helping to bring his fellow premiers into the fold through skilful diplomacy and good old fashioned Canadian compromise. This struggle would cost Davis politically. His support for Pierre Trudeau’s ambitions upset not only his federal cousins but his own caucus. And yet, today, his contributions are universally celebrated. Why? Because he put the good of his country ahead of partisanship.
In negotiating the future of health care in Canada, Davis’s successors should replicate his example. And there are signs this just might happen. When The Star’s Susan Delacourt recently asked the prime minister about Premier Doug Ford’s plans to clear Ontario’s surgery backlog by delivering more operations through private clinics, he chose to call it “innovation.”
Make no mistake, Trudeau’s answer was a momentous break with decades of orthodoxy. But the cliché that politics makes strange bedfellows is a cliché for a reason. The PM well understands that there is no deal if the lines of distinction are drawn too sharply before formal negotiations even begin. Crucially, he recognizes that Ford will be a vital partner in this upcoming negotiation and, that with Ontario’s support, he has a powerful ally in bringing other provinces along.
Some opposition parties will, predictably, try to upset progress. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, desperate for oxygen, has said he’ll consider pulling support for the Liberals if they do not insist on no-privatization conditions for health care funding. While that might be in his narrow political interests, this is not the time for such considerations.
All of which is not to deny that getting this right will be a win for those who do, which raises the question of legacy, specifically the prime minister’s. Achieving this deal will produce very close to immediate results.
A crumbling health care system cracks at the very foundation of not only this country but who we are as a people. So the point is this: It won’t matter if Trudeau puts a Canadian on the moon. His accomplishments will count for nothing if he misses this once-in-his-premiership shot to repair our national foundation. If he does miss, his legacy is in deep trouble. But if he makes this crucial fix, his legacy will have a new cornerstone.
Make no mistake, Trudeau’s answer was a momentous break with decades of orthodoxy. But the cliché that politics makes strange bedfellows is a cliché for a reason. The PM well understands that there is no deal if the lines of distinction are drawn too sharply before formal negotiations even begin. Crucially, he recognizes that Ford will be a vital partner in this upcoming negotiation and, that with Ontario’s support, he has a powerful ally in bringing other provinces along.
Some opposition parties will, predictably, try to upset progress. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, desperate for oxygen, has said he’ll consider pulling support for the Liberals if they do not insist on no-privatization conditions for health care funding. While that might be in his narrow political interests, this is not the time for such considerations.
All of which is not to deny that getting this right will be a win for those who do, which raises the question of legacy, specifically the prime minister’s. Achieving this deal will produce very close to immediate results.
A crumbling health care system cracks at the very foundation of not only this country but who we are as a people. So the point is this: It won’t matter if Trudeau puts a Canadian on the moon. His accomplishments will count for nothing if he misses this once-in-his-premiership shot to repair our national foundation. If he does miss, his legacy is in deep trouble. But if he makes this crucial fix, his legacy will have a new cornerstone.
This article first appeared in the Toronto Star on January 30, 2023.
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