Premier Greg Selinger

Premier Greg Selinger is not impressed with the Harper government's new health care plan.

This week, Federal finance minister Jim Flaherty spelled out Ottawa's new funding formula for health-care transfer payments without any negotiations. The federal government will continue to increase health care transfers by six per cent until 2016-17.  After that, increases will be tied to economic growth including inflation - roughly four per cent - and never fall below three per cent.

Selinger says the Harper government has departed from the normal decision making process on these kinds of issues. "We are concerned about the unilateral nature of which they delivered that message, just dropping it on the Minsters of Finance without any warning and saying it's a done deal. It doesn't really allow for the kind of conversation that's needed to continue to improve health care. We need more innovation in health care, we need to move health care closer to where people live, we  need more doctors and nurses, we think that we need to continue to have a conversation about how to improve health care and we think the federal government needs to be a part of that," said Selinger.

Selinger says when Medicare started in Canada, it was funded 50-50 between the federal and provincial governments. He says the feds now pay 20 per cent and the provinces are paying 80 per cent.