OTTAWA -- The federal government's fifth priority of wait-time guarantees on medical procedures appears to have dropped off the radar as the "priorities" of spring are replaced by the "pillars" of autumn.
In a press release issued to mark the return of the House of Commons this week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper lays out four pillars that outline the Tories' legislative agenda for the fall. The pillars include economic management and value for money, accountability and democratic reform, environment and personal health, and crime and national security.
The government similarly announced five priorities last spring and made visible progress on all but that involving its campaign commitment to implement patient wait-time guarantees for medically necessary services.
Neither the Prime Minister's Office nor Health Minister Tony Clement's office could be reached for comment on the status of the wait-times promise.
Liberal health critic Dr. Ruby Dhalla said the Conservatives are ignoring the number one priority of Canadians. "They have not invested a single dollar into the area of health care," she said. "Tony Clement and the Conservatives have failed to deliver."
NDP health critic Penny Priddy worried that the government may be deliberately holding back on the health-care file in the hopes of eventually ushering in more private health care.
"If you wait long enough and hope you can go to the polls and get a majority government to move forward on it, then that's what you'll do," Priddy said.
In a speech to the Canadian Medical Association last month, Clement said he believes the provinces can begin making progress toward establishing guarantees by next year.
Several provinces, including Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, have made progress on reducing wait times for a variety of procedures, but only Quebec has ventured into making guarantees.
Other provincial governments have warned that the step from wait-times targets to guarantees is a significant one that would require more money from the federal government.
Clement has proposed a federal-provincial-territorial health ministers meeting for this fall.
