John Ivison quotes me in his National Post column today, about Quebec’s new $25 health care “user fee”. He mentions one solution we are proposing in the upcoming Canadian Century (in stores next month):
In a new book due this spring, Mr. Crowley proposes a less Draconian solution, based on recent Canadian policy, that could achieve many of the same goals.
Mr. Crowley believes the feds could follow the lead set by Paul Martin in the mid-1990s, when he forced the provinces to initiate welfare reform by simply putting a ceiling on the contribution from Ottawa. He said Mr. Harper could simply put a ceiling on social transfers at 2014 levels and then allow provinces the freedom to experiment with future costs and revenues. This would have the benefit of forestalling Mr. Harper’s greatest fear — that the provinces come calling again with hands outstretched in four years with the expiration of Mr. Martin’s “fix for a generation” health-care accord, which has given provinces predictable 6% funding increases for the past six years.
