Ottawa is poised to announce more spending on health care technology and clean energy, according to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, but she warned her provincial and territory counterparts not to add fuel to inflationary pressures. The federal government has been repositioning itself ahead of Tuesday’s first ministers’ meeting in Ottawa. Ms. Freeland’s statements are a prime example of this. Ms. Freeland stated that the federal government’s top expenditure priorities are health care and keeping Canada competitive with the new green energy subsidies in the United States instituted by the Inflation Reduction Act last year. She emphasized that the government’s extra expenditure in those two areas must not impede the Bank of Canada’s efforts to reduce inflation. Ms. Freeland has stated, “it truly is my job - the federal government’s responsibility - not to do anything that puts fuel on the flames of inflation and forces the Bank of Canada’s hands.” Even though we need to make these two significant investments, we must act fiscally responsibly. I needed to discuss this with the provincial and territorial finance ministers. On Friday, Ms. Freeland did not offer a concrete plan for health transfer payments. Finance Minister Eric Girard of Quebec said we would send a formal proposal to the provinces on Tuesday. He assured the audience that they still committed the provincial governments to their 2021 demand that the federal government pay 35% of all health care expenditures. According to a report from 2021, the premiers calculated that this would require an increase in the size of the yearly Canada Health Transfer (CHT) of over $27 billion per year, plus an annual rise of 5 percent. Mr. Girard stated that other provinces besides Quebec have also indicated their willingness to comply with the federal request to publish health care spending and outcome statistics. The federal government has set a target date of early February for a broad agreement between Ottawa and the provinces on health transfers, with subsequent, more detailed individual transfer accords tailored to the unique need of each province and territory. Ministers at the federal level have expressed a desire for all agreements to be completed before introducing the 2023 federal and provincial budgets. Finance Minister Travis Toews of Alberta recently told reporters that Ottawa should raise the CHT without conditions. Although all finance ministers are aware of fiscal restrictions when creating budgets, Mr. Toews argued Ottawa should prioritize health expenditures despite these limitations. After the discussion, Ontario’s Minister of Finance Peter Bethlenfalvy said that Premier Doug Ford had signaled the province will be “pragmatic” to reach a health care agreement. To date, annual increases in CHT size have tracked a three-year moving average of nominal GDP growth. Recent price increases have the impact of generating above-average CHT growth under the current method, as nominal GDP is a statistic that accounts for inflation. They estimate the CHT will increase to $49.4 billion in 2023–24, a 9.2 percent increase from the $45.2 billion predicted for the current fiscal year. Ms. Freeland has stated that for Canada to respond to the new U.S. incentives for clean tech, the federal government and the provinces would need to collaborate to persuade international corporations to make targeted investments in Canada. On Friday morning, Mr. Bethlenfalvy told reporters that while the provinces have been helping, the federal government needs to step up and take the reins. He assured the Canadian people that the federal government in Ottawa would do an excellent job representing their interests.