۴ý

Politics

    • Budget 2022 makes good on dental care, but little in new health spending

    Share
    OTTAWA -

    The Liberals have made good on promises to the NDP when it comes to health spending in their newly released budget, but offered little else in new spending to reinvigorate Canada's struggling health system.

    The government expects to launch a new dental program in 2022, starting with children under the age of 12 at an initial cost of $300 million.

    The scheme laid out in the budget is a major tenet of the Liberal's confidence and supply agreement with the NDP to keep the government in power until 2025. The budget closely mirrors the opposition party's costed platform proposal from the 2021 election, though details about how it will work are still sparse.

    The new program will be restricted to families with an income of less than $90,000, with no co-pays for those who make under $70,000 per year.

    The plan is to expand eligibility to children under the age of 18, seniors and persons with disabilities in 2023. The government expects full implementation by 2025, with an annual cost of $1.7 billion.

    In total, the government expects to spend $5.3 billion over five years on dental care.

    The Liberals also committed to passing a legislative framework for a national pharmacare plan by the end of 2023 as part of their deal with the NDP, but did not set aside any funds for the program in the budget.

    While the government contemplates adding to public health care, provinces and health workers have warned the existing system is crumbling and in desperate need of help.

    Provinces have clamoured for the federal government to increase its share of health spending, with an immediate increase of about $28 billion, to shore up their struggling systems.

    Health transfers to the provinces will increase in 2022, but not nearly to the degree provinces have asked for.

    They want minimum funding increases of five per cent annually, arguing the current plan of three per cent jumps in spending means transfers don't keep pace with yearly cost increases.

    Currently, federal contributions to provincial health systems grow in line with a three-year moving average of nominal gross domestic product. Thanks to a sunnier economic outlook than expected, the transfers will rise by about 4.8 per cent.

    Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos previously announced a $2 billion one-time boost for provincial health systems to work through the massive surgical backlogs that accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    In the budget, the government alludes to the possibility of further negotiations on health transfers, but says that money would have to be tied to government priorities like increased access to primary and mental health care.

    The budget does not appear to respond to the near-frantic pleas from health workers for a plan to address a serious staff shortage, as burnt-out employees reduce their hours and leave the industry in droves.

    The only new measures involve expanding loan forgiveness for doctors, nurses and other health professionals in rural and remote communities, as well as making it easier for foreign trained professionals to be certified in Canada.

    The budget also included funds to "finish the fight" against COVID-19, with $50 million in 2022 to finance the purchase of vaccines, tests and therapeutics, $50 million to maintain Canada's emergency stockpile of critical health supplies, $18 million to maintain vaccine passports for one more year and $25 million to maintain the ArriveCan app to track public health information for travellers.

    The Public Health Agency of Canada will also get a $436 million boost over the next five years to track and assess the risk of viruses, flu and respiratory infections.

    The government appears keen to wind down COVID-19 health spending beyond 2022, but has set aside $20 million to study the long-term impact of the virus on infected Canadians and Canada's health care systems.

    This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 7, 2022.

    Get in touch

    What do you want to know about the budget? Email dotcom@bellmedia.ca.

    • Please include your name, location, and contact information if you are willing to speak to a journalist with ۴ý.
    • Your comments may be used in a CTVNews.ca story.

    IN DEPTH

    Opinion

    opinion

    opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike

    When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.

    CTVNews.ca Top Stories

    The president and CEO of New Brunswick-based Covered Bridge Potato Chips is taking an 'extended leave of absence' after being charged with domestic violence this past weekend.

    A memorial is growing outside a Walmart in Halifax after a 19-year-old employee was found dead inside an oven in the store Saturday night.

    A search has started at Prairie Green Landfill for the remains of two victims of a serial killer.

    He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.

    Canada

    • Speed was a possible factor in a Tuesday night rollover involving a semi-truck that left 17 cows dead. In a news release Wednesday, Calgary police said officers were called to the area of Stoney Trail S.E. and Macleod Trail S.E. around 8:10 p.m. for a reported rollover involving a semi-truck carrying 95 cattle.

    • The president and CEO of New Brunswick-based Covered Bridge Potato Chips is taking an 'extended leave of absence' after being charged with domestic violence this past weekend.

    • He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.

    World

    Politics

    Health

    Sci-Tech

    • A meteor lit up our region's sky last night – with a large fireball shooting across the horizon over Lake Erie at around 7:00 p.m.

    • The estimated population of North Atlantic right whales increased in 2023, but a group of international marine scientists say human behaviour still poses a significant threat to the critically endangered species.

    Entertainment

    Business

    Lifestyle

    Sports

    Autos

    Local Spotlight

    He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.

    A meteor lit up our region's sky last night – with a large fireball shooting across the horizon over Lake Erie at around 7:00 p.m.

    Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.

    A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.

    A newly minted Winnipegger is hoping a world record attempt will help bring awareness for the need for more pump track facilities in the city.

    A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.

    Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.

    Looking for a scare with good intentions this Halloween season? The ghosts and ghouls of Eganville, Ont. invite families to tour the Haunted Walk at Lekbor Manor.

    The image of a sleepy Saskatchewan small town with 'not a lot going on' is a well-known anecdote. However, one Saskatchewan company is hoping to change that – and allow communities both on and off the beaten path to share their stories and advertise what they have to offer.

    • A coalition of Jewish organizations says it is "deeply alarmed" by a rising tide of antisemitism at the University of British Columbia in recent weeks.

    • Vancouver Fire Rescue Services received its first shipment of new firefighting gear on Wednesday, advancing the department's plans to reduce cancer risk for its members.

    • A Real Canadian Superstore in B.C.'s Fraser Valley was evacuated Tuesday night due to a "suspicious" fire in the toilet paper aisle, according to authorities.

    • He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.

    • Brampton is looking to the federal and provincial government to address the growing number of its vulnerable international students being exploited and trafficked.

    • Speed was a possible factor in a Tuesday night rollover involving a semi-truck that left 17 cows dead. In a news release Wednesday, Calgary police said officers were called to the area of Stoney Trail S.E. and Macleod Trail S.E. around 8:10 p.m. for a reported rollover involving a semi-truck carrying 95 cattle.

    • A Calgary Jewish organization issued a response Wednesday to anti-Israel graffiti spray painted on a series of road dividers near the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo.

    • A new report suggests that Canadians' exposure to a radioactive gas is increasing, putting millions of people at a higher risk of developing lung cancer.

    • One person has died and others have been injured after a two-vehicle collision involving a tractor trailer and a car on Highway 7 in eastern Ontario, according to police.

    • Homeowners with a variable rate mortgage in Ottawa can expect to see some savings thanks to a significant rate cut by the Bank of Canada.

    • A Zamboni driver in western Quebec has been arrested on suspicion of impaired driving after a low-speed crash at a hockey rink on Monday.

    • Nigel Berkley and CRARR plan to file complaints with the police ethics commissioner and the human rights commission after Berkley was repeatedly stopped while driving his mother's car over four months.

    • Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante will not be seeking re-election.

    • The Alberta Pharmacists' Association says upcoming government cuts to service compensation fees will have a big impact on pharmacists and also patient care.

    • A goal on the power play Tuesday night isn't stopping Edmonton Oilers' coaches from tinkering with the special-teams lineup.

    • An Edmonton tow truck operator has been charged after police say he refused to release a vehicle to its owner.

    • A memorial is growing outside a Walmart in Halifax after a 19-year-old employee was found dead inside an oven in the store Saturday night.

    • The president and CEO of New Brunswick-based Covered Bridge Potato Chips is taking an 'extended leave of absence' after being charged with domestic violence this past weekend.

    • A volunteer treasurer is facing charges after funds went missing from Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston’s riding.

    • A search has started at Prairie Green Landfill for the remains of two victims of a serial killer.

    • A 59-year-old man has died following a crash involving three vehicles that started after a tire fell off a car on the Trans-Canada Highway Wednesday morning in the RM of Tache.

    • A Manitoba inmate who was released from custody by mistake has been arrested, according to Winnipeg police.

    • Regina police says officers will provide an update Thursday in its search for the suspect of a homicide that took place in the city during the summer of 2023.

    • The Saskatchewan Roughriders along with other Canadian Football League [CFL] clubs have announced their player nominations for the 2024 league awards.

    • There are many issues top of mind for voters in the upcoming provincial election.

    • Detective Robert Hofstetter examined Erb’s home after her death and came to several conclusions based on the blood stains he found there.

    • A psychologist who recently assessed Geovanny Villalba-Aleman believes he may have experienced a psychotic break before stabbing three people in a gender studies class at a University of Waterloo.

    • Things could be looking up for Waterloo, Ont.-based company and former tech darling Sandvine, after being removed from the U.S. Department of Commerce Entity List earlier this week.

    • Canada's discount airline is suspending operations to and from Saskatoon.

    • The Saskatoon civic election is drawing closer, with mayoral candidates outlining their visions to keep the city competitive and attract businesses.

    • With the war in Ukraine still going on and Saskatchewan now home to hundreds of newcomers fleeing the attacks, there’s been a resurgence of a youth group here in Saskatoon.

    • A Sudbury jury has found Felicity Altiman guilty of second-degree murder in the December 2020 stabbing death of a Sudbury man.

    • It only took minutes for North Bay pharmacist Brian Chute to be out $1,500 after fraudsters deceptively swapped his bank card with another.

    • The president and CEO of New Brunswick-based Covered Bridge Potato Chips is taking an 'extended leave of absence' after being charged with domestic violence this past weekend.

    • NEW

      NEW

      Under tough cross-examination at the London courthouse on Wednesday, Rachel Johnson, 21, was asked a number of times why there was a delay in calling 911

    • A 27-year-old man is miraculously alive after his pickup went over Hawk Cliff near Port Stanley. Fire fighters estimate that from the top to bottom of the embankment is around 270 feet.

    • OPP have confirmed that a transport truck driver crashed into a historic home just southeast of London this morning.

    • A haunted house in the Town of Innisfil is causing a real scare for some people a week before Halloween.

    • Barrie police conducted a search on Wednesday of the last place Autumn Shaganash was seen in hopes of giving her family some answers to her mysterious disappearance.

    • A 34-year-old motorcyclist has died following a collision in Barrie’s south end on Tuesday.

    • Windsor Fire and Rescue Services has been working to prepare for heightened HAZMAT risk ahead of relaxed restrictions around the transportation of some hazardous materials across the Ambassador Bridge.

    • As hospitals elsewhere in Ontario reintroduce mask mandates due to rising respiratory illnesses, Windsor hospitals are taking a more measured approach.

    • Now that production is set to begin at Windsor’s battery plant, NextStar is looking for some employees to make that production happen.

    • A man who fired at least 19 gunshots at an RCMP detachment in northern British Columbia, narrowly missing officers inside, has won a reduced prison sentence from the province's highest court, which ruled the sentencing judge failed to fully weigh the man's mental illness at the time.

    • An oil salvage operation is underway on the fragile wreckage of a U.S. army transport ship that sank almost 80 years ago off coastal British Columbia in a race to head off an eruption of thousands of litres of oil that a coast guard official says is "near imminent."

    • The leaders of British Columbia's New Democrats and B.C. Conservatives have received the cold shoulder after looking to start minority government talks with the Greens following last weekend's inconclusive election result, party leader Sonia Furstenau said Wednesday.

    • Dave Lindsey began growing giant pumpkins to bring a bit of magic to his grandkids' Halloween.

    • A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., to 18 months in prison for using fake names to buy guns with the aim of selling them in Canada.

    • Nearly two years after a man was stabbed to death in downtown Kelowna, RCMP have made an arrest in the case.

    • A dazzling light display is making its return to Lethbridge this holiday season.

    • As part of anniversary celebrations, the City of Lethbridge is inviting the community to see VisitLethbridge.com Arena like they never have before.

    • A design plan is now underway to increase the capacity of Lethbridge's Water Treatment Plant.

    • The lack of 24-hour public washrooms has been a long-standing issue in the Sault, especially considering the rise in homelessness.

    • The union representing the fire rangers with the Ministry of Natural Resources says money won’t fix the systemic problems in the workplace.

    • Rallies by a group called Voices Against Violence took place across the country on Monday, including Sault Ste. Marie.

    N.L.

    Stay Connected
    Follow ۴ý