December 2013
Flaherty betrayed Ontario, broke promise on health transfers: health minister
TORONTO - The federal Conservatives have betrayed Canada's most populous province by breaking their promise over health-care funding, Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews charged Tuesday. The Harper Tories promised all provinces a six per cent increase in health transfers, but they're only giving Ontario 3.4 per cent in 2014-15, she said. That means Ontario is out $300 million, while Alberta is getting about $1 billion more — a 38 per cent increase, Matthews said...The federal New Democrats say Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is using the oldest trick in the book. "To download to the provinces and to take care of your own health at the expense of somebody else, and that's what they're doing," said NDP health critic Libby Davies. "But I don't think it works because what he's doing is betraying the trust of the premiers and it means his word doesn't count for anything."
Ottawa urged to improve dementia and Alzheimer’s strategy
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It’s a disease on the rise, and there are now calls nationally for more of a focus on dementia, coming only days after a North Vancouver senior’s death. The federal government is being urged to come up with a better plan. NDP MP Libby Davies says people are worried about what will happen to them as they get older. “It’s basically a time bomb waiting to go off in terms of how it’s going to impact the next generation, and we just don’t have a timeline, a strategy, a plan in Canada to deal with it.” Canada is attending a G8 Dementia Summit tomorrow, but Davies says our country is trailing others. “There are many other countries that have much better systems and resources to respond to Alzheimer’s and dementia. In Canada, we don’t have that yet,” she adds.