CTF Federal/Ontario Director Gregory Thomas and I were in Victoria yesterday for a series of meetings, plus an in-studio chat with Murray Langdon on CFAX 1070 about the work of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, and some of the recent head-scratching spending decisions in the Department of National Defence.

We weren’t the only visitors in Victoria—the 13 premiers gathered at a Council of the Federation meeting, and unanimously condemned the federal government’s plan to ratchet down health funding transfers over the next decade. Here’s the plan, in a nutshell:

• Federal health transfers will continue to increase by six per cent every year until 2016-17.
• In 2016-17, increases will be tied to economic growth plus inflation and never fall below three per cent.
• Presently that increase would be four per cent.
• The new plan would be in place through 2024.
• There will also be a per-capita funding formula.

The Premiers all hate the federal plan, but for different reasons:

• More dialogue: the premiers feel this decision has been imposed on them without adequate negotiation
• Aging populations: BC Premier Christy Clark wants the formula amended to reflect the average age of British Columbians, noting health care costs more for an 85 year old than a 25 year old. Alberta Premier Alison Redford rejected Clark’s concern, because her provincial population is considerably younger.
• More dough: Provinces want more money in order to balance their books. Health care is the top provincial cost driver, so the more they can extract from Ottawa, the better for the premiers.

On Tuesday, the premiers announced they would work on a national health care innovation plan without Ottawa. The provinces and territories have pledged to exchange information on innovative cost reduction programs amongst themselves. This is a great step forward: if there are ways to save money, let's hear them!

The talks continue, and you can bet this will be a key issue for the premiers going forward.