December 21, 2011

Whether it’s the birth of a new born baby, medical help when facing an illnesses, or urgent care during an emergency, we all rely on our hospitals, doctors, nurses and other key parts of our health care system.  We want it to be there for ourselves and our family when we need it most.

I know how important a reliable health care system is for Canadians and especially in Lambton-Kent-Middlesex.

While the health care system in Canada is a provincial responsibility, the federal government assists each province and territory with transfer payments for health care.  Under the previous federal Liberal government in the 1990s, those transfer payments were dramatically slashed. That meant doctors and nurses were fired, hospitals were closed and Canada’s health care system was severely set back.

When elected in 2006, our government chose a different approach to health care funding.

Indeed, we have increased health care funding to record highs – from $20 billion a year when we formed government to nearly $27 billion this year, an increase of nearly $7 billion.  That’s billions more in increased funding to ensure that you and your family have timely access to the best medical attention available.

Building on that record, I am happy to report that our Conservative government recently announced we would continue increasing support for Canada’s health care system with a long-term and growing investment.

Specifically, federal health care transfers will continue to grow each year at record high levels – for instance, from $30 billion per year in 2013-14 to $38 billion per year in 2018-19.

Put another way, your government will be investing over $178 billion in our health system from 2013-14 to 2018-19 – an all-time record high amount.

In Ontario we will be providing record high support through major federal transfers in 2012-13 totaling $19.2 billion – an increase of nearly $8.4 billion (or 77%) from under the previous Liberal government, including:

• over $3.2 billion through Equalization
• nearly $11.4 billion through the Canada Health Transfer , an increase of over $3.6 billion (or 48%) from under the Liberals
• $4.6 billion through the Canada Social Transfer , an increase of over $1.4 billion (or 45%) since the Liberals

This long-term support helps ensure Ontario has the resources needed to provide essential public services including health care, post-secondary education and other social services

What’s more, we have further committed that annual health transfers will continue to grow above the already record highs.  This further growth will be sustainable as it will be in line with Canada’s economy (as measured by ‘nominal Gross Domestic Product’), which is estimated to be at a rate of over four per cent growth a year.  However, to ensure predictability for the provinces, our government has guaranteed an annual growth rate of 3 per cent or more each year.

That means federal support for health care will keep growing every year beyond the record levels the federal government has already invested – and in a way that is both predictable and sustainable.

This will help ensure Canada’s health care system – including our local hospitals, doctors, nurses, and more – will be there when you and your family need it.