Our nation's premiers are set to meet for their summer session in Winnipeg where Canada's high cost of living, an ongoing housing crisis, wildfires and the risks from climate change will likely be on their agenda.Now imagine if cancer is the issue that keeps you up at night. Imagine the worry when you realize you cannot afford out-of-pocket costs for cancer treatment. Or the stress of how to pay your bills while taking unpaid leave because you are too sick to work. Or the fear of how your cancer will progress as you face yet another long wait time for a necessary procedure or appointment.New investments to tackle a crisis in our healthcare systems across Canada, no doubt, should be a prominent discussion.We should not have to beg political leaders to put healthcare – and cancer care – permanently on the agenda.Cancer is the leading cause of death for Canadians and 2 in 5 will be diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime. Despite progress made, the number of new cancer cases continues to increase as a result of the growing and aging population. Over 1.5 million people in Canada are living with and after cancer.Cancer isn't waiting, so why are governments?We know the healthcare system isn't working for many people impacted by cancer. At the Canadian Cancer Society, we regularly hear from people across Canada who share their concerns about things like unaffordable medication, long wait times for diagnostic procedures and lack of access to a family doctor. Our new national polling results reveal that 1 in 3 people are not confident they will receive timely access to cancer care when they need it.Luckily, solutions are readily available.In fact, the Canadian Cancer Society spent a good chunk of the past year sharing our solutions to cancer care issues with elected officials and senior bureaucrats across provincial, territorial and federal levels. Here's what we said:First and foremost, governments need to ensure that the commitments to increase health funding dollars are immediately invested in our publicly funded system. And targeted funding should be earmarked for cancer care and services.Secondly, we need to clean up the mess the pandemic left behind. That means clearing pandemic-related backlogs in a clearly defined timeline and reducing wait times.Next, we need to focus on addressing cancer before it starts, or early on when chances of treatment success are higher. That includes cancer prevention policies and programs that will have an impact on population health; things like eating well, living smoke free and reducing alcohol consumption. It also means better early detection efforts, like making cancer screening more accessible to more people.We need to think about the bigger picture by looking at data, research and innovation.  Investments into research and innovation will help us meet the challenges of tomorrow. There are gaps in cancer data collection that need to be addressed – making sure it's timely, representative and disaggregated – so we can better address inequities and support informed planning, evaluation and accountability.People affected by cancer cannot get better if the front-line workers who support them continue to feel burnt out and leave the healthcare workforce. We need a robust nationwide health human resources strategy that will address critical staffing shortages and improve working conditions. Well-staffed, cared for healthcare providers will mean better care for patients.Finally, we need to make palliative care universal so that everyone in Canada is offered comfort, dignity and choice when they face a serious illness like cancer.This is not an easy list to tackle and there are certainly many urgent issues competing for attention. But at this point, unless there's clear movement forward, we are at risk of experiencing yet another dangerous illness that seems to plague decision-makers: the contagious bout of indifference and inaction.We have the necessary resources to fix our cancer care issues and improve the quality of healthcare in Canada. Our country is chock-full of brilliant minds, health system experts and people with lived experience eager to work cooperatively with governments on innovative solutions. Money isn't an issue since the provinces and territories are flushed with new federal healthcare funding they successfully fought for.We need governments across Canada to work together to drive change. For too long, Canadians see more stories about debates between governments on who funds what but we need to ensure that funding goes directly into the healthcare system for people when they need it most.When the premiers meet in July, they must ensure that healthcare – cancer care – is back on the agenda. It's time for our leaders to take the dollars they have and invest it into the health of people living in Canada, especially now that the fight for more federal funding is over.Dr Stuart Edmonds is the Executive Vice President of Mission, Research and Advocacy at the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS). Prior to CCS, Stuart spent 8 years at Prostate Cancer Canada as Vice President of Research, Health Promotion and Survivorship. He has held leadership roles at several national cancer research institutes and government agencies. Stuart holds a Doctorate in pharmacology from Oxford University.