The solidarity that existed among the provinces and territories in their opposition to the federal government's new deal on health care transfers continues to crumble.

Saskatchewan was the latest province to break ranks this week, announcing on Tuesday that it had reached an agreement with the Trudeau government.

Saskatchewan joins Nunavut, Yukon the Northwest Territories are the latest to bolt from the united front that existed as late as early December. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland had all signed their own deals with Ottawa earlier. That leaves Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta, Prince Edward Island and Manitoba as the last holdouts.

Manitoba remains firm in his opposition to the federal government's offer of incremental 3 per cent funding increases over the next 10 years for health care.

"There is a national agreement, by the way, that says the federal government is supposed to support 25 per cent of the costs," said premier Brian Pallister. "Well, in Manitoba they are down to about 19 per cent support, and now they want to reduce that even further. That's not right."

The deal that Saskatchewan signed provides an extra $349 million over 10 years in federal cash for home care and mental health. Pallister says he is firmly opposed to any side deals. He feels it would be unfair to agree to extra money for services such as mental health at the expense of other areas of the health system.

"What the Trudeau government is proposing is something we've seen before with the federal Liberals back in the 90s when they gutted health care transfers and we saw the consequences here in Manitoba and across the country. It wasn't good and every study that I've read says you can't sustain health care with an aging population, with the new technologies that are coming out with a 3 per cent increase. It's not going to work."

Pallister suggested that the premiers who remain steadfast on this issue represent about 85 per cent of Canadians and the situation can only be resolved in a spirit of partnership and co-operation.