Nova Scotia can expect to get $7.85 million dollars from Ottawa for targeted mental health- and home-care spending this year, according to the federal budget bill.
Just two days before Christmas, Nova Scotia announced it was breaking ranks with other provinces and territories to strike its own health deal. After calling for a 5.2 per cent annual increase in funding from Ottawa, Nova Scotia agreed to a 3.5 per cent increase for the first two years of the 10-year agreement. And a three per cent floor for increases in the subsequent eight years.
The deal totals $11.48 billion over 10 years. It includes $287.8 million in extra money for home care and mental health over 10 years. But the provincial Liberals have repeatedly refused to disclose how much would be paid out in each of the 10 years — saying the information would be released through the provincial budget.
Tabled in Parliament last week, the federal government’s budget implementation bill includes the equation for divvying up Ottawa’s dedicated home care- and mental-health funding between the provinces. It’s calculated solely on the population of each of the provinces and territories.
Using the numbers referenced in the budget bill, Global News calculated the $7.85-million funding for this year. It breaks down to $5.23 million for home care and $2.62 million for mental-health care.
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The province refused to comment on the numbers but said in an emailed statement that “more complete information” on the federal government’s health-care transfers to Nova Scotia will be available when the budget is tabled on April 27.
Had the money been divvied up equally over the decade, Nova Scotia could have expected to get $28.8 million this year. Instead, it’s getting less than one-third of that, based on the federal budget bill. The spending will ramp up over the next few years with much larger sums for home care and mental-health care expected in later years.
Additional money for home care and mental health based solely on population
Premier Stephen McNeil has consistently called for any funding from Ottawa to take into account Nova Scotia’s aging population compared to other provinces. In December, he told the Canadian Press the extra money accounts for the province’s demographics.
“I’ve always said that any additional funding should reflect those demographic challenges and that’s what we’ve been able to achieve,” McNeil told the Canadian Press on December 29.
However, the federal finance department said the equation used to divide the extra money between the provinces is based squarely on population.
“We believe we have reached the best deal we could get from the federal government,” provincial finance department spokesperson Marla MacInnis said in an emailed statement.
Health deal a ‘betrayal’ to Nova Scotians: NDP
By accepting an overall health deal that included a much lower yearly increase than Nova Scotia had asked for, getting no allowances for demographic challenges, and the slow roll-out of targeted money for home care and mental health, NDP Leader Gary Burrill said the deal is a “betrayal” of Nova Scotians.
“It’s not only a bad deal, it also counts as a sell-out,” Burrill said. Calling it a “dollars and cents” issue, Burrill said he was concerned that any delay in spending would make it more difficult for the province to tackle health-care wait times.
Calling the first year’s funding for mental health and home care a “drop in the bucket,” Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie accused the Liberals of having misplaced priorities.
“McNeil has decided to keep the peace with the federal Liberals so he can ride their coat-tails,” Baillie said.
A formal agreement for the 10-year health deal has not been released.
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