“The rate of growth of the health care system can’t be sustained and that somehow that’s going to have to be tackled, so that we, we keep a system that Canadians value, Canadians depend on, but can manage it in a way that it’s affordable and will continue to be available for future generations”
– Mr. Harper in December 2011
[Source]
- Despite an aging population with increased healthcare needs, Mr. Harper’s government has cut federal support of healthcare by $36 billion over the next decade.
[Source, Source, Source] - Unlike previous Canadian Prime Ministers, Mr. Harper has never met with the premiers as a group on the future of health care.
[Source, Source, Source] - Instead, in late 2011, Mr. Harper declared unilaterally that the Canada Health Accord with the provinces would not be renewed.
[Source, Source, Source] - Mr. Harper replaced the Canada Health Accord with a program that funded provinces on a per capita basis. This ignored actual health costs and benefited provinces with large and young populations. Only Alberta came out ahead.
[Source, Source] - When Mr. Harper decided not to renew the Health Accord he also cancelled a strategy to develop a national pharmacare plan.
[Source, Source, Source] - Many Canadians cannot afford their essential prescriptions. Spending on drugs has been increasing at a rate of 8 percent a year above inflation
[Source, Source, Source] - Pharmacare would save both patients and governments money. New Zealand slashed their drug budget by 50% with a comprehensive pharmacare plan.”
[Source, Source, Source] - The World Health Organization has ranked Canada’s healthcare system as 30th in the world behind France, Oman, the UK and Morocco. According to the Commonwealth Fund, “only the United States ranks lower” than Canada among OECD countries on quality of healthcare.
[Source, Source] - Mr. Harper’s government stopped funding the Health Council of Canada in order to save $6 million. The HCC provided independent reports and recommendations on areas such as wait times, pharmaceuticals and the health care system as a whole.
[Source, Source]