Morneau should recuse himself: critics

Want finance minister ousted from the national pharmacare file over his remarks about upcoming study

OTTAWA — Health and labour groups are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to remove Finance Minister Bill Morneau from the government’s national pharmacare file over comments he made about the freshly launched effort to explore the issue.

The heads of three organizations allege Morneau presupposed the outcome of the study on national pharmacare by saying he supports an eventual strategy that would preserve existing drug-insurance systems in Canada, rather than tossing them all aside for a new national plan.

Leaders of the Canadian Labour Congress, Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions and Canadian Doctors for Medicare have written to Trudeau about Morneau’s remarks the morning after he tabled a budget announcing the national pharmacare council.

The organizations say Morneau’s comments not only contradict overwhelming evidence that has shown a national plan is the best way forward, they also threaten to undermine the work of the national pharmacare council before it even begins.

The New Democrats also used the daily question period to assail Morneau, who defended himself by saying he would listen to the findings of the expert council to make sure all Canadians have access to pharmaceuticals.

The letter’s authors also seized on a remark made by Morneau at Wednesday’s breakfast event about his past ties to his familybuilt firm Morneau Shepell, which he noted is the largest benefits consultancy provider in Canada.

“With these deep ties to the private firm Morneau Shepell, we are concerned that the finance minister may not be approaching the issue of fundamental change in national drug insurance policies with an exclusive focus on evidence in the public interest,” said the letter to Trudeau.

The letter had a subject line that read: “Minister Morneau should recuse himself from the pharmacare file given his perceived conflict of interest.”

On Wednesday, Morneau said the new pharmacare advisory council would explore a strategy on how to close gaps in the current patchwork to ensure all Canadians have access to the medications they need.

“We need to consider how we can best make use of our existing system — which, after all, for most people in this room, is probably working — but recognize that there are very significant gaps that we need to deal with,” Morneau told the Economic Club of Canada in Ottawa.