Why the failure of Canada's health ministers to reach a deal matters for your health care

Canada's federal, provincial and territorial health ministers claim they agree the country's health system is facing a crisis, yet even that failed to light enough of a fire under them to reach a deal to make things better.

Talks between them collapsed in Vancouver this week. The meeting was actually in progress when Canada's premiers issued a news release declaring that "no progress" had been made. That prompted federal health minister Jean-Yves Duclos to abandon the talks. 

Canadians waiting long hours in hospital emergency rooms or the weary health professionals working long hours to care for patients would be forgiven if they didn't notice the meeting was happening.

If they had, they could only be profoundly disappointed by the failure of their political leaders to find common ground on improving Canada's health-care system at a time when it's under such strain. 

The Vancouver meeting was supposed to result in a national plan to address the staffing crisis in health care — one of the biggest factors driving the strain in the system right now.

Federal and provincial officials had worked together for months on a health human resources action plan. It was up for approval at the Vancouver meeting, according to copies of the agenda circulating on site, but the meeting ended without ministers endorsing the plan. 

The group representing Canada's doctors expressed disappointment at the failure to find solutions to the "critical issues plaguing our health systems." Canada's nurses used stronger language, saying they're appalled at the lack of progress. 

The overarching issue at play between the Trudeau government and the provinces is, of course, money. 

The provinces believe the feds ought to cover a larger portion of their health-care costs. This year, Ottawa is providing about $45 billion through the Canada Health Transfer. The provinces want that boosted by about $28 billion a year. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his government is willing to provide more money, but he's not saying how much more. In addition, there would be strings attached, mainly that Ottawa wants to see evidence that the money results in measurably better health care. 

That means Ottawa wants provinces to provide more data on what's going on in their health systems, such as how long people wait for surgeries or mental health services, or the percentage of people matched with a family doctor. 

In the simplest terms, it boils down to the provinces wanting to talk money before committing to results, while Ottawa wants to talk results before committing to money. 

To justify their respective positions, each side is citing the challenges facing the health system right now. 

The premiers "want an unconditional increase in the Canada Health Transfer sent to their finance ministers," said Duclos at a news conference after the meeting ended.