N.B. health deal weakens provincial bargaining position, hardens federal resolve

OTTAWA – New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant’s decision to strike a bilateral deal on health funding with the Trudeau government has splintered the united provincial front and hardened Ottawa’s resolve to reject attempts to extract billions more from federal coffers.

Gallant’s move has prompted angry responses from some provinces but federal officials say as many as five others are discussing the possibility of striking their own bilateral deals.

British Columbia Health Minister Terry Lake doesn’t believe that – he suspects it’s just part of a federal strategy to divide and conquer provincial and territorial governments. On Monday, the premiers unanimously rejected a federal offer to increase transfer payments by 3.5 per cent annually and fork out another $11.5 billion over 10 years in targeted funding for home care and mental health.

But Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall says he knows some provinces are talking individually to the federal government and he predicts some may yet follow New Brunswick’s example.
Wall says the provinces’ bargaining position is weaker as a result but he understands that sometimes an individual province’s interests are best served through bilateral negotiations.