Health Accord
The Issue:
Back in 2004, Paul Martin’s governing liberals signed a 10-year federal-provincial-territorial Health Accord that was supposed to ‘heal health care for a generation’. But the reality is the Paul Martin government gave the provinces a blank cheque with no strings attached. The “buy transformative change” advice prescribed by the Romanow-led Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care was not heeded. Well the Health Accord is up for renewal in 2014 and this time we need ‘strings attched’. This time we need to get more accountability and value for our money, and we need real transformative change.
Resources:
Health Accord – Report Card Canadian Health Coalition, September 2004
Review of the progress in implementing the 2004 Health Accord Canadian Health Coalition remarks to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health, May 2008
A Nurses Perspective: Review of the progress in implementing the 2004 Health Accord Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, June 2008
Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health in relation to its review of the 10-Year Plan to Strengthen Health Care CUPE, June 2008
Rekindling Reform: Health Care Renewal in Canada, 2003–2008 (download summary) Health Council of Canada, June 2008
Media:
Health Accord in the News, January 2012
Health Financing in the News, December 2011
Health care’s next chapter will be a tough one Toronto Star, July 12, 2011
Tax isn’t a four letter word, Globe and Mail, October 2011
Business as usual’ is not an option in Canadian healthcare Times & Transcript, June 25, 2011
Premiers pledge united front on federal transfer talks New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, November 30, 2010
Canada playing in wrong health league. Endless comparisons to the U.S. miss point that we lag behind most developed nations Toronto Star, July 10, 2010
Health Accord: Unhealthy apathy (more media) Vancouver Sun, June 18, 2008


