{"id":821961,"date":"2026-07-24T00:40:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T00:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/821961\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T00:40:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T00:40:26","slug":"ottawa-should-help-nunavut-with-high-medical-travel-costs-main-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/821961\/","title":{"rendered":"Ottawa should help Nunavut with high medical travel costs, Main says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canada\u2019s premiers discuss health care, looming U.S. tariffs at premiers\u2019 meeting in P.E.I.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a meeting of Canada\u2019s premiers, Nunavut\u2019s John Main said the territory\u2019s biggest healthcare cost is not medication \u2014 it\u2019s jet fuel.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Ottawa must help deliver health care in the North, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are spending tens of millions of dollars each year to send patients halfway across the country, in some cases, to access specialized care. So, we want to change that,\u201d Main said Wednesday at the Council of the Federation meeting in Charlottetown, P.E.I.<\/p>\n

The premiers\u2019 news conference was broadcast by CPAC.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to build care closer to home, and we need a strong partnership from the federal government that recognizes our increased spend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Main said he intends to raise the issue with Prime Minister Mark Carney when they meet in person Thursday for the first ministers meeting in Charlottetown, the final day of the three-day summit.<\/p>\n

A major focus of the talks is the looming 50 per cent U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods, set to take effect Aug. 19. Premiers are calling for a co-ordinated approach to negotiating with Washington.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

The White House cited Canadian provincial boycotts of U.S. alcohol products as one reason for the tariffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t keep rolling over for Donald Trump,\u201d Ontario Premier Doug Ford said. \u201cYou don\u2019t negotiate through weakness with President Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n

British Columbia Premier David Eby said Canada must balance protecting workers and industries while responding to U.S. demands for access to Canadian resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States needs to decide what they want,\u201d Eby said. \u201cDo they want a strong partner in Canada where we work together, or are they keen to go it alone?\u201d<\/p>\n

Main echoed other premiers\u2019 concerns about Canada\u2019s imposition of counter-tariffs in the ongoing trade war with the U.S., saying impacts on the cost of living are \u201cmagnified\u201d in the North.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo everything that you want to do in Nunavut, from building a house to starting a business, could potentially get harder under new tariffs,\u201d Main said.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

In a closing statement, premiers called for continued federal investment in health care, housing, transportation and infrastructure, while urging Ottawa to maintain close consultation with provinces and territories during negotiations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s premiers discuss health care, looming U.S. tariffs at premiers\u2019 meeting in P.E.I. Speaking at a meeting of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":821962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-821961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=821961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/821962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=821961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=821961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=821961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}