VICTORIA - Mindful of both the uncertainty in the global economy and the economic value of Canada’s health systems, Canada’s Premiers committed to working together on fiscal arrangements to find solutions that will work for the benefit of all Canadians - in all provinces and territories.

Photos of the Council of the Federation 2012  (flickr.com)

Recognizing that the Canada Health Transfer will move to an equal per capita cash transfer, Premiers emphasized that the outcome must be consistent with the constitutional principle that every province and territory must be able to provide its citizens with reasonably comparable levels of public services at reasonably comparable levels of taxation.

Premiers are working together because they are all committed to the basic principle that no jurisdiction should be worse off. Canada’s fiscal arrangements should be a win-win for all Canadians regardless of where they live.

Premier Greg Selinger will lead a working group composed of provincial and territorial Finance ministers who, as a first step, will assess the fiscal impact of the current federal fiscal proposals.

Growing the Economy

Premiers emphasized the importance of growing the Canadian economy and focused on key actions to enhance prosperity, including:

• increasing the role of immigration to address labour market needs;
• continuing to invest strategically in infrastructure;
• engaging in emerging markets throughout the world; and 
• promoting international trade negotiations with Asia, India and the European Union and other actions outlined in the Premiers’ strategy released in July 2011, Canada in the Global Economy.

Premiers look forward to strong support from the federal government to pursue these actions. To further these goals, Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter will lead a Council of the Federation trade mission to China this fall, as announced in July 2011.

For more information:
Robert Pauliszyn
Government of British Columbia
Cell: 250-213-5096
robert.pauliszyn@gov.bc.ca