"I have not heard the Premier or anyone in the government making the case for this Province before this First Ministers Meeting to push the federal government on this issue the way they told the people of this province they would during the election campaign," said Ms. Jones.

The Liberal MHA noted the promise to push for changes to the CHST was listed as one of their "key commitments" in relation to health on page 10 of the Blue Book. The commitment was to;

"Seek restoration of federal transfers for health and social programs to the 1994/95 level adjusted for inflation, and push the federal government to build indexes into the Canada Health and Social Transfer that reflect provincial differences in population density, population aging, population growth, as well as differences in cost and ability to pay."

Jones says the government should have been more aggressive in making our case for fairer treatment from the federal government rather than trying to solve the financial problems of this province through cutbacks to people who can least afford it. "I find it very disturbing that this government is willing to take money away from public sector pensioners, not replace front line workers who provide help to people on social assistance and put the construction of much needed health care facilities on hold, but they can’t get their act together enough to follow through on a promise to push the federal government for a fairer arrangement on health care."