Pierre Polyvre He said he would honor Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s pledge to increase health care costs in states if a new Conservative government takes power.
Polyvre The pledge was made after Trudeau offered $17 billion more than previous pledges and an additional $25 billion over the next 10 years through one-for-one deals with states.
“We respect that” Polyvre He told reporters before Wednesday’s caucuses.
After years of complaints that Ottawa was not paying its fair share of health care costs, Tory leaders said the overall increase was well below what state and territory leaders had hoped. He repeated criticism from the prime minister of the department.
Polyvre The Conservative Party will be tight-lipped until Wednesday on whether it shares the prime minister’s belief that federal spending needs to go up to improve health care and whether his party is willing to meet their demands. His silence sparked attacks from federal New Democrats.
Speaking to reporters, Polyvre Under Stephen Harper’s former Conservative government, which he held until he was overthrown by Trudeau in 2015, health transfers to the states increased by 6% each year.
The deal he was referring to was negotiated by Paul Martin’s previous Liberal government.
Prime Minister Trudeau invited all 13 state and territory leaders to Ottawa this week to present a proposal that would collectively increase state transfers by $196 billion over the next decade.
Despite expressing disappointment, many prime ministers have suggested they are ready to accept the offer, as Trudeau said he would like to start negotiations on individual deals.