FEDERAL LIBERALS TOO SLOW ON PHARMACARE
The question the news media and our provincial and federal politicians need to ask themselves is when will universal pharmacare be implemented?
Prior to the 2020-21 coronavirus pandemic, I urged the federal Trudeau Liberal government to work with Jagmeet Singh’s New Democrats and the Greens to implement this urgently needed and long-overdue national pharmacare program. Then, during the early months of this global pandemic, I urged the federal Liberals to implement pharmacare as soon as possible. It should have been part of Ottawa’s COVID-19 support package.
After decades of campaign promises for pharmacare, the Trudeau Liberals (or the majority of federal Liberal caucus, including five Newfoundland and Labrador MPS) opposed the recent Bill C-213, The Canada Pharmacare Act.
It was a typical Liberal flipflop. Our Liberal minority government had the golden opportunity to work with the NDP, Greens, independents, and even two pro-pharmacare Liberal MPS: Nathaniel Erskine-smith (Beaches-east York) and Wayne Long (Saint John-rothesay) on pharmacare but chose not to.
Then in this year’s Liberal government throne speech and an April 6 response from local Liberal MP Seamus O’regan’s (St. John’s South-mount Pearl) office, it looks like the Liberals support pharmacare again, but with a long and dragged out implementation process. I wonder if this is a Liberal flip flop in reverse?
“We are committed to a national, universal pharmacare program and accelerating steps to achieve this system including: through a rare-disease strategy to help Canadian families save money on high-cost drugs; establishing a national formulary to keep drug prices low and working with provinces and territories willing to move forward without delay,” the Liberals have pledged.
My position is that we need pharmacare now. The federal Liberals have been in power in Ottawa since 2015. They have had ample opportunity to move forward and implement pharmacare since they have been in power.
The federal Liberal government with the provinces and territories should implement the five principles of a national pharmacare system: public, portable, comprehensive, universal and accessible.
Edward Sawdon
St. John’s