by The Honourable A. Brian Peckford
March 11, 2023
The Central , Federal Nanny State In Full Bloom —I had No Sooner Warned Of The Now Settled Extra Federal Influence Over Health Care , An Exclusive Provincial Jurisdiction Constitutionally, Than The Federal Minister Fines The Provinces For Violating The Canada Health Act , Validating My Point!
Here is the news report highlighting the Federal Minister’s Action :
‘Ottawa claws back $82M from health transfers to 8 provinces charging private fees’
The rest of the story from Canadian Press reads
‘OTTAWA — Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says he is clawing $82 million in federal health transfers to the provinces for charging patients for services that should have been covered by the public purse.
Eight provinces will see reductions in their next health transfer from the federal government over fees charged to patients in 2020 and 2021.
Most of the deductions are related to fees for diagnostic services such as MRIs and CT scans.
The federal Liberal government enacted a new policy on diagnostic services in 2020 ensuring fees for such tests were covered by the Canada Health Act’s single-payer policy.
The Canada Health Act allows the federal government to reduce health transfers when provinces charge user fees for medically necessary health services.
Duclos has also written to every province and territory to warn them about an increase in private fees being charged for other services, including virtual patient visits.’ End of Press Statement .
My Comments
This kind of Federal encroachment , with the willing co-operation of the Provinces , sees the end of Federalism as Constitutionally mandated and given the financial transfers in education and social services and equalization included ( $87 billion in just the year 2022-2023) the nanny state as envisioned and practised by the Central , Federal Government is very much a reality.
So when you hear Provincial Politicians complain about the Federal Government interfering in Provincial jurisdictional matters remind them ———-that it looks like this is a very selective process and in some areas the Provinces agree with the Constitution being broken while others they object—the cake and eat it too syndrome.—- and what really is happening is that our Confederation Project is really dead .
In the Judiciary we see it in the creation of new ways to interpret our Charter of Rights and Freedoms both the ‘supremacy of god ‘ and ‘ rule of law’ provision and to ignore the ‘demonstrably justify’ condition in Section 1 or completely misrepresent its intent and plain meaning.
So as you hear groups , many of them, continue to criticize the Federal Government on encroaching on Provincial jurisdiction you have to temper it with the fact that there are so many political games being played these days , so many outright lies being told in science, media, academia, big tech, big Pharma and GOVERNMENT ——that one is best to keep one’s own counsel—-
This massive Provincial acquiescence, submission to the Federal Power only emboldens the Central , Federal Government oriented Politicians , Bureaucrats, and the Judiciary to continue their jurisdictional incursions as it relates to energy, communications , internet and free speech, and items like carbon taxes and crypto currency.
That is why ——-My Magna Carta , published on this site and in public forum , a real tangible , doable reform of the existing system is not being embraced ———it stops in its tracts the existing destruction of our original constitutional Order , reasserts the principles of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms ——including the essential principles of the ‘Supremacy of God and the rule of law’ so necessary for a moral and reasoned society to be sustained .
