Liberal Promise to Introduce Pharmacare Bill Faces Scrutiny from NDP

The Liberals have promised to introduce a bill on pharmacare this fall as part of the support and confidence agreement they reached last year with the NDP to ensure the survival of the minority government until ‘in 2025.

This agreement calls for “continuing progress towards the implementation of a universal drug insurance plan” by adopting a first law on this subject by the end of 2023.

Gathered at a convention this weekend in Hamilton, the New Democratic delegates nevertheless set a line that the Liberals should not cross: they must commit to a “universal, comprehensive and entirely audience”.

The national director of the NDP, Anne McGrath, also stressed that obtaining a strong bill on pharmacare will be the party’s absolute priority during the next sessions of the House of Commons.

And if the NDP ends up putting an end to its agreement with the Liberals because it does not obtain the provisions it considers essential: “Pharmaceutical insurance will be an issue submitted to the ballot,” she said. decided in an interview with La Presse Canadienne.

In front of approximately 1,200 party delegates, New Democratic Leader Jagmeet Singh shared a message of hope in his opening speech Saturday, attempting to position the NDP as a party capable of bringing about change.

“We are going to build a Canada where we take care of each other,” said Mr. Singh, who obtained 81% in his vote of confidence.

Mr. Singh and his caucus also threw their support behind the non-binding resolution on universal pharmacare, an issue that has dominated the convention.

“A weak bill will not be acceptable to New Democrats,” reiterated Ms. McGrath.

“He must be strong. It must have bite. And I feel like this resolution gave Jagmeet and the caucus a lot of negotiating power. It gives them a good balance of power.”

However, even if a bill were introduced by December, it is unclear when a program could be operational or when Canadians could start saving money by picking up their prescriptions.

Accord fragile

The support and confidence agreement ensures the minority Liberal government has the support of the NDP during key votes in the House of Commons, such as budgets and the Speech from the Throne.

However, the New Democrats made it clear this weekend that they will be ready to break this agreement if they do not obtain what they are looking for in terms of pharmacare.

NDP Health critic Don Davies clarified Saturday that the end of the agreement would not automatically mean the party would push for an election, but rather that it would review its options to support the liberal proposals one vote at a time.

The next federal election must take place no later than October 20, 2025. But since the Liberals do not have a majority in the House of Commons, they must convince at least ten opposition MPs to vote with them for be able to pass a bill and, above all, survive votes of confidence.

“Whatever the next few months bring, we know we have to be ready for elections,” said Ms. McGrath.

The New Democrats, who have long campaigned to integrate universal access to prescription drugs into the public health system, believe that pharmacare is an issue that sets them apart from the Liberals.

The Liberals campaigned on a promise to implement a national pharmacare program during the 2019 election, but did not renew that promise during the 2021 election campaign.

They presented a first draft of a bill on pharmacare to the NDP in recent weeks, but the New Democrats rejected it, The Canadian Press learned, because it did not respect their conditions.

In response, Health Minister Mark Holland spoke of “extremely fluid” negotiations between his party and the NDP on the issue of pharmacare.