Quebec Premier François Legault is blaming Ottawa for a failed federal-provincial health ministers' meeting, which ended Tuesday in Vancouver.
At the conference's close Tuesday night, the federal government refused to increase its share of funding for the health-care system -- a bone of contention among the provinces for at least two decades.
On Wednesday morning, Legault said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau doesn't understand the needs of the provinces.
The CAQ leader criticized the federal government for its intention to impose conditions when it only funds 22 per cent of health spending in the country, compared to the 78 per cent the provinces bear.
"Mr. Trudeau thinks he's better than Christian Dubé at choosing how to spend the money," Legault said in a press scrum before heading to a cabinet meeting.
Ottawa pulled out of a joint communiqué with provincial and territorial health ministers, ending much-anticipated meetings in Vancouver without any agreement to increase healthcare funding.
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix, who called the end of the meetings "disappointing," said provincial and territorial ministers were united in demanding federal health funding increase from 22 to 35 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first publised in French on Nov. 9, 2022.
