WINNIPEG — Provincial and territorial health ministers say they want to explore the idea of national pharmacare and other needed programs — but only if Ottawa chips in.
The ministers meeting in Winnipeg say they want to provide more services, but can’t do so without more federal funding, which they say is not keeping up with the rising cost of health care.
They say there is also a need for better mental-health treatments and opioid addiction services.
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Alberta’s Sarah Hoffman says new health programs could be helped by the Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion project.
She says once the project to the B-C coast is complete it would bring in 15-billion dollars in national revenue.
Manitoba’s Kelvin Goertzen says he is disappointed Ottawa has not come up with a public awareness campaign to warn about the dangers of recreational marijuana.
Federal Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor is to join the meeting today.