Manitoba's Health Minister says it's time provinces come together and buy medical equipment in bulk.

Manitoba led the discussions this week at the provincial and territorial health ministers meetings about procuring basic and specialized medical equipment particularly MRI machines. He says for large equipment like MRI's, which can be a million dollars or more, they expect significant savings if provinces join together to negotiate lower prices and purchase in bulk. Goertzen notes a prime example would be pharmaceuticals, we've been buying them together nationally for years and it's been saving billions of dollars.

"When it comes to the medical system that if you purchase together and it's just somewhat common sense I think we know that in our own individual lives if you can make a bulk purchase you can get a better price."

Goertzen says they've been given the go-ahead for the task and will report back to the Premiers on May 31st of 2018. Now that Manitoba is taking over as the lead province for health care, Goertzen adds these meetings have been a success as they continue to work at bringing down some of the costs within health care and getting a better value for money for what can often be very expensive but important equipment.

One other topic that came out of the health ministers meetings was talk about health funding. Goertzen says he never stops trying when it comes to getting the message across to the federal health minister about the importance of sustainability in health care is important. "It's not working well now and the federal government provides in Manitoba's context, 19% of the funding", adds Goertzen, "She heard that message and that's not something that we're going to stop talking about." He says the Premier is committed to continue pushing the message as well.

"Sometimes you have to lay an awful lot of seeds before you get the harvest but we'll continue to do that because we know it is important. Ultimately, the health care system the way it's structured now financially with the Provincial governments paying 80% or more of the costs is not sustainable for Canadians.

The legalization of cannabis was also a hot topic and Goertzen says he's also concerned about the July 1st legalization deadline being too soon. "I don't think I got enough guidance to give me assurance" notes Goertzen in terms of what the federal government's plans are for ensuring there is sufficient awareness for Canadians about the harmful effect of cannabis.

He explains the negative effects specifically for young people.

"Up until the age of 25, the brain continues to develop and cannabis can impede that and be detrimental to those who are using it under that age. So I've expressed that, I think the need for early and aggressive advertising, in terms of public awareness so that young people and other recognize there is a harm in the use of cannabis, is important."

Goertzen expects the federal government to start advertising in the new year but notes that's too late for it to sink into people's minds. He says he believes and worries this is very much a work in process at the federal level whether it comes to supply, advertising or testing for impaired driving.