Canada鈥檚 provinces and territories need a partner that will share half the financial load on the health-care system, which is buckling without stable, predictable and long-term funding, British Columbia Premier John Horgan said Monday.

The country鈥檚 13 premiers began two days of meetings in Victoria with the primary topic of health-care funding as Canada eases out of the COVID-19 pandemic with a severe shortage of doctors, nurses and other health workers.

鈥淲e need to reimagine public health care in Canada,鈥� said Horgan, who chairs the premiers鈥� Council of the Federation.

He said the premiers already sent the federal government a detailed funding proposal and they are waiting for a response.

Horgan received a text from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday saying Ottawa is aware of the funding situation and 鈥渢hey鈥檝e been working on it,鈥� he said.

鈥淏ut we can鈥檛 determine what we鈥檙e going to do with money we don鈥檛 have,鈥� he said.

鈥淎nd we can go a lot further if we had a partner that was carrying half the load.鈥�

Horgan told a news conference that the history of health-care funding in Canada was one of 鈥渄ual responsibility鈥� before cuts began in the 1990s.

鈥淭hat has diminished over decades. This is not at the feet of the current Trudeau administration,鈥� he added.

Successive federal governments have provided one-time funding to address immediate health-care needs, and that approach isn鈥檛 working, Horgan said, adding stable funding is needed.

鈥淥nce those temporary, part-time, once-only funding pots empty, we have a void, which then is inevitably filled by the jurisdictions that are providing the services,鈥� Horgan said of the provinces and territories.

The premiers have called on Ottawa to increase health funding to 35 per cent, from what they have said currently amounts to 22 per cent.

Stable funding would allow provinces and territories to invest in a human resource strategy, so they aren鈥檛 鈥減oaching鈥� from each other as they train the next generation of health-care workers to take the burden off those who were celebrated in the early days of the pandemic, Horgan said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just not good enough to show our gratitude. We need to now show we鈥檙e committed to those workers, those patients, and that鈥檚 what these discussions are about this afternoon and into tomorrow,鈥� he said.

Canadian nursing leaders also met with premiers earlier Monday with a message that nurses are suffering through a 鈥渄ire staffing crisis鈥� that threatens the sustainability of public health care.

Referencing that meeting, Horgan said people working in the health-care system are 鈥渟trained beyond belief.鈥�

A statement from Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, said the system is 鈥渙n the brink of disaster.鈥�

Silas said nurses have been 鈥渟truggling through extreme staffing shortages, forced overtime and cancelled vacations, with no end in sight鈥� to untenable conditions.

The federation said its proposals focus on retaining nurses, encouraging them to return to the profession and adding measures to recruit and train more of them.

Silas said provincial commitments to strengthen health care are welcome, but 鈥渘o one province or territory can solve this on their own,鈥� and federal funding will be key.

Premiers also met with leaders of the National Indigenous Organizations, made up of the Assembly of First Nations, Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, M茅tis National Council and the Native Women鈥檚 Association of Canada.

Horgan said they discussed issues including land claims, reconciliation, child welfare, missing and murdered Indigenous women and the 鈥渁rchaic鈥� Indian Act, saying it was introduced when residential school policies were being implemented.

He said they also talked about the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which the B.C. government is in the process of implementing. Ottawa has also pledged to implement the declaration, and Assembly of First Nations B.C. Regional Chief Terry Teegee called for a first ministers meeting within the next year to focus on how to adopt it across all levels of Canadian governments.

Horgan was also asked about how the premiers plan to manage rising inflation and said they will be discussing 鈥渂est practices鈥� from their jurisdictions to help reduce costs for the public and protect them from 鈥渟eismic issues鈥� affecting the global economy, including the pandemic and Vladimir Putin鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine.

鈥擝renna Owen, The Canadian Press