Over the Christmas holidays, emergency departments at several Canadian hospitals were forced to close temporarily due to lack of staff. Overwhelmed with patients, the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa began postponing surgeries and airlifting children to other facilities. Across the country, a backlog of surgeries is proving life-threatening. These are simply the latest episodes in an ongoing health care crisis that is national in scope.

Canada’s system of Medicare — a point of national pride — was strained before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. It’s now teetering on the brink, with some Conservative provincial leaders salivating at the prospect of privatization.

For months, provincial premiers have been demanding that the federal government increase health transfer payments. Indeed, the cost-sharing model which sees the federal government currently kick in around 22 percent of health funding should be revised so that Ottawa pays more of the bill. Although a deal to boost federal funding appears to be in sight, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals are failing to ensure that protecting public health care delivery is a part of it.