In an interview with CBC's Rosemary Barton Live airing Sunday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said weeks of talks between the two sides have produced draft legislation that will set out the framework for a national pharmacare program and, in the short term, new coverage for contraception and diabetes treatment.
Under the terms of the confidence-and-supply agreement signed in March 2022, the Liberal government committed to passing legislation — a Canada Pharmacare Act — by the end of 2023, in exchange for NDP support on key votes in the House of Commons.
As the new deadline approached, Singh's public pressure on the government became louder — and private grumbling and threats leaked out to reporters.
Singh said Friday that, by including coverage for contraception and diabetes, the pharmacare agreement goes beyond the original terms of the deal between the two parties.
Speaking to reporters in Nova Scotia on Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government is "committed to moving forward on creating a framework for pharmacare, because in a wealthy country like Canada, nobody should have to choose between buying groceries or buying much-needed medication."
Asked about the deal on Friday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre criticized the government's record and said he wants to see the details of the plan.
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I eagerly await the details, because if it's only diabetes and birth control that's pretty disappointing, especially considering those are two issues that are largely (but not entirely) the product of an unhealthy life style.
It'd be nice if the government encouraged healthy living more than it encouragedmedicating unhealthy living.
The fact that I make a personal effort to not be a burden on this system yet I have to pay for people who purposely make themselves burdens.
Quite honestly, I don't mind paying for certain accidents and injuries (those that are the result of criminal or civil liability should be paid for by the liable party not the taxpayer) and general aging, but when someone spends a few decades eating themselves into Type 2 diabetes I fail to see why the taxpayer should be on the hook for their medication or the results of them not having medication.