Premier comments on Prime Minister�s letter on healthcare

Premier Brian Tobin commented today on the Prime Minister�s recent letter to premiers on the issue of health reform and sustainable health funding.

"I believe, as do my fellow premiers, that an urgent and substantial allocation of federal funding is needed to meet the current needs of our health care system. While the Prime Minister�s proposal does not immediately address this need, it can provide an important basis for long-term stability and reform to our medicare system" the Premier noted. "It is my hope that, through this process, medicare can be modernized and the federal government will commit further funding to stabilize the system. On this basis, Newfoundland will be a full partner in this process, and I have directed our Health and Community Services Minister, Roger Grimes, to work in collaboration with his federal and provincial colleagues to make the process of reform proposed by the Prime Minister a success. I also look forward to participating in a First Ministers Meeting this fall," he said.

Premier Bouchard, as chair of the 1999 Annual Premiers Conference, wrote the Prime Minister on March 1 requesting a First Ministers meeting on health in follow-up to the federal budget. The Prime Minister subsequently wrote premiers on March 7 proposing a First Ministers meeting in the latter part of this year to discuss health as a matter of priority. He also proposed that health ministers be directed to accelerate and intensify their work on health care reform in preparation for this session.

"I also concur with the Prime Minister�s view that there are no simple solutions or quick fixes to the challenges facing our health care system," the Premier noted. "Our system of medicare was developed with the recognition that a federal-provincial partnership was essential in meeting the needs of Canadians. The time has come to renew this partnership by ensuring that our healthcare system has adequate and stable funding, and that it adapts to meet the changing needs our population."

Media contact: Heidi Bonnell, Office of the Premier, (709) 729-3960.

2000 03 08                                             5:05p.m.