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Canada’s premiers talk health care, meet with Indigenous leaders at Victoria B.C. gathering

Click to play video: 'Canada’s premiers are in Victoria for 2022 summer gathering'
Canada’s premiers are in Victoria for 2022 summer gathering
Canada's premiers are in B.C. today for two days of talks. B.C. Premier John Horgan is leading the council of federation summer gathering in Victoria. Each province will have its own set of priorities, but they'll be presenting a united front on demand to boost federal health-care funding and tackle inflation. Richard Zussman has more. – Jul 11, 2022

Premier John Horgan says Canada’s provinces and territories need a partner that will share half the load on a health-care system that is buckling without sustainable funding.

Horgan is hosting Canada’s premiers in Victoria for two days of meetings this week.

He says they’ve already sent the federal government a detailed funding proposal and he received a text from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today, saying they are aware of the situation and are working on it.

Leaders from the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions met with premiers earlier today to say the health system is on the brink of disaster and nurses have been struggling through extreme staffing shortages with no end in sight to the conditions.

Click to play video: 'When can British Columbians expect some relief from rising gas, food, cost of living expenses?'
When can British Columbians expect some relief from rising gas, food, cost of living expenses?
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Click to play video: 'B.C. premier highlights challenges faced by Indigenous people in Canada'
B.C. premier highlights challenges faced by Indigenous people in Canada

Canada’s premiers started their summer gathering at a Victoria-area First Nation where they met with leaders of the National Indigenous Organizations, a collection of five national Indigenous groups.

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The Council of the Federation, representing premiers from Canada’s 13 provinces and territories, are meeting in Victoria Monday and Tuesday.

Click to play video: '‘We need sustainable, predictable funding from Ottawa’: B.C. premier on meeting provincial health-care needs'
‘We need sustainable, predictable funding from Ottawa’: B.C. premier on meeting provincial health-care needs

Métis National Council president Cassidy Caron said the dialogue was “extremely valuable,” encompassing topics such as the Indian Act, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, land claims, child welfare, and unmarked burial sites at former residential school sites.

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“We spent the morning getting to know one another, getting to build the relationships,” she told reporters after the meeting.

Click to play video: 'Premiers’ meeting focuses on health care, inflation, Indigenous issues'
Premiers’ meeting focuses on health care, inflation, Indigenous issues

“There are solutions we can all develop together through talking about our challenges, talking about best practices — what’s working and what’s not working in each of our jurisdictions.”

The meeting comes just over a week before the Pope is scheduled to visit Canada to offer what is expected to be an in-person apology for abuse suffered by Indigenous Peoples at the hands of the Catholic Church.

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