Ford says ‘little bit’ of work left on federal health deal

Ontario Premier Doug Ford met with two federal ministers today, along with the province’s health minister, to discuss the federal government’s health-care offer.

Ford noted that it was a productive meeting but that there is still a “little bit” of work to do.

The offer from Ottawa was announced Tuesday with $17 billion to be added to the Canada Health Transfer over 10 years for the provinces and territories

Ford was joined by Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones to meet with Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc and federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos at the provincial legislature.

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“We want to see sustainability,” Jones said before the meeting. “We’re making investments in the province of Ontario and we want the federal government to be part of those long term investments.”

On the way into the meeting, Ford said he’s similarly looking for more money and commitments from the federal government.

Ottawa’s offer would provide an immediate one-time $2 billion top-up to help ease pressures on emergency rooms and children’s hospitals, plus another $25 billion this year for family doctors, mental health, surgical backlogs and health data systems.