2023-06-13 15:21:55
(Ottawa) New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh announces that his party has tabled its own national pharmacare bill in the House of Commons, showing that the NDP is no longer content to wait for the Liberals keep their promise.
The New Democrats and the Liberals reached a “support and confidence agreement” in March 2022, which provides that the NDP will support the government on key votes in the Commons, in order to avoid a snap election before 2025. In exchange, the NDP obtained a promise that the Liberal government will advance certain New Democrat priorities in Parliament.
One of those conditions was that the Liberals move toward a universal national pharmacare program, passing a bill before the end of this year. The agreement was not specific on what this bill should contain.
But Mr. Singh and his health critic, Don Davies, now say they have lost faith in the Liberal government’s real commitment to this issue and want to take matters into their own hands.
The NDP version of the bill states that a federal pharmacare program must be universal, single-payer and public. Mr. Singh warns that this is the approach he now wants to see the Liberal government take.
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