NDP Urging Liberals to Finalize Agreements with Provinces Following Passage of Pharmacare Legislation
With the NDP’s pharmacare bill now law, Leader Jagmeet Singh is calling for the Liberal government to quickly sign agreements with the provinces to implement the program.
“I’m letting Justin Trudeau know right now, I’m letting the government know… don’t drag your feet when it comes to negotiations,” Singh told reporters in Ottawa on Oct. 11. “Start negotiating now and let’s get those deals signed.”
“That is the only way that people will actually receive the benefit,” he added.
The legislation, previously known as Bill C-64, guides the creation of a universal pharmacare plan and allows the federal government to sign deals with provinces and territories to cover birth control and diabetes medications within the public health system. It received royal assent and became law on Oct. 10.
The bill was negotiated as part of the supply-and-confidence agreement between the Liberals and the NDP, which was signed in March 2022. Last month, the NDP pulled out of the agreement, which kept the minority Liberals in power in exchange for work on NDP priorities such as pharmacare and dental care.
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Signh did not directly answer reporters’ questions on whether his party’s future support of the Liberals was contingent on the government signing pharmacare agreements with the provinces and territories.
“When it comes to confidence votes, we’ve been very clear: we’re going to look at each vote as it comes,” Singh said. “But I’m letting people know that right now, after this historic bill has been passed into law… I want to see these deals signed.”
Speaking to reporters on Oct. 11, Health Minister Mark Holland said the passage of the pharmacare bill was an “essential first step in making sure that every Canadian everywhere has access to the medication that they need.”
Holland said he hoped Ottawa would be able to sign deals with all the provinces and territories by the spring of 2025.
When asked about Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s threat to opt out of the national pharmacare deal, Holland acknowledged it would not be “easy” to make agreements with all the provinces.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said he opposes the pharmacare plan, arguing the federal plan would force Canadians to give up their own private drug plans.
“I will reject the radical plan for a ’single-payer’ drug plan, which is right in the law,” Poilievre said in the House of Commons on Sept. 24.
Poilievre has said his party would get rid of the federal pharmacare plan if it formed government.
