Prince Edward Island could be early adopter of federal health scheme

Prince Edward Island could be among the first to sign on to the federal government’s recently announced health-care plan.

Doing so could give the King government a strong pillar in the upcoming election.

Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared in good spirits meeting in Ottawa on the federal government’s health-care plan Wednesday.

The proposed plan would see P.E.I. get nearly $50 million. Though that’s only half of the expected health budget increase officials say will be required this year to turn health-care around.

Still, King signalled after the meeting he might accept the deal.

“I don’t think anyone will send the money back,” said King. “Do they want more? Yes. Will there be negotiations? Absolutely. But I think that the federal government put a significant [amount] of money on the table, and I think it will be accepted by all the premiers eventually.”

That’s not a surprise for some observers. The spending will be a strong talking point in the upcoming P.E.I. election, which must happen by October.

“I think it’s a non-choice,” said Don Desserud, a UPEI political science professor. “To turn it down is to cut your nose off to spite your face.”

There’s a mounting expectation the provincial election will come sooner rather than later.

Desserud says he doesn’t see the money solving all health issues, but the King government can use it to shield itself from criticism.

“He’s simply going to come back and say, ‘We have this much money now that we did not have before, and now we have a chance to make some progress,’” said Desserud.

“They’ll keep saying that over and over again, even if that’s not a really satisfactory answer and it doesn’t really address the issues.”

There are conditions on the money, but the province’s official opposition says that’s a good thing.

“The province should have done this proactively. They should have done it independently,” said Peter Bevan-Baker, P.E.I. Green Party leader.

“They should not have waited four years for the federal government to say, ‘Actually, you know what? You need to do some results-based planning here.’”

The Prime Minister’s Office did issue a statement Thursday on Trudeau’s meeting with King. The office promised it would work with the province on several key issues, but didn’t really offer anything of substance. It was more of a general acknowledgment of the spirit of cooperation between the two governments.