Canadians don’t have confidence in the country’s stressed-out healthcare system, according to a new poll. Now, premiers are using the findings to lobby Ottawa for more funding.
The Leger Report which surveyed Canadian’s from coast to coast to coast, found many feel health care has deteriorated over the last five years. Nearly 80 per cent said the pandemic has strained the system.
“There’s a perception amongst Canadians that the system needs work. It needs an injection of cash. They do feel that the system does need more money,” Andrew Enns with Leger polling said.
About 22 per cent of Canadians believe that the federal government currently provides an adequate amount of funding to provinces and territories to deliver health services properly.
The premiers released the poll ahead of their next Council of the Federation meeting Friday.
While the provincial leaders don’t agree on many issues there is consensus on the call for increased health care funding — calling the need urgent in a letter to the prime minister in September.
With Canadians particularly conacred about the staffing, surgical backlogs and procedures wait times, Enns says Premiers can use the stats are leverage and call on the federal government, saying Canadians agree financial resources are needed to address the challenges in the sector.
“From a premiers’ perspective, those are going to be areas that they’re going to want to be able to show some demonstrable progress on as we shift out of a pandemic and hopefully kind of catch our breath,” Enns said.
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Although he says he believes the feds might want to dictate where to lend a hand, he also says “I think the provinces have a bit of ammunition in this polling which suggests that Canadians don’t want this reduced to a jurisdictional, big argument.
“They feel the federal government has a responsibility to support the system and they also feel comfortable the province is best placed to determine what their citizens need. And I think who can most strongly communicate their position and rationale, will win out in the court of public opinion.”
A majority of Canadians (84 per cent) believe that provinces and territories should be able to tailor health funding to meet their needs.
Enns predicts Canadians will be frustrated if the federal government proposes supporting the sector through a national PharmaCare program, for example, instead of focusing on surgical wait times and long-term care. Close to 80 per cent of Canadians agree that for federal government’s funding must be sustained and maintained over time for long-term improvements in healthcare.