PM under pressure to be more progressive

HALIFAX• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is being pushed by backbenchers and grassroots Liberals to take a more progressive stance on issues such as pharmacare, prostitution and illegal drugs.

The pressure came Friday during the first full day of the Liberals’ national convention and it was motivated, at least in part, by a determination not to be outflanked by the NDP in the battle for progressive voters in next year’s federal election.

At the same time, however, Trudeau’s ministers were applying some pressure of their own —urging party faithful to get out and sell the government’s support for the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in the face of opposition from environmentalists, some Indigenous groups and British Columbia’s NDP government.

One resolution, proposed by the national caucus, calls for the country’s universal health-care system to be expanded to include coverage of prescription drugs, echoing a call by the Commons health committee last week.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s most recent federal budget announced the creation of an advisory committee, headed by former Ontario health minister Eric Hoskins, to study the implementation of national pharmacare.

But Oakville MP John Oliver, a member of the health committee, warned that the fight for pharmacare is not a done deal and he urged delegates to support the resolution to send a message to the Prime Minister’s Office.

“I think it’s so important that Liberals own this issue. We don’t let the NDP own it. We need to own it as Liberals. It’s got to come out of this convention as the No. 1 priority.”

New Democrats approved a resolution on national pharmacare at their recent convention.

Another resolution proposed by the caucus calls on the government to decriminalize simple possession and consumption of all illicit drugs, adopting a model similar to that used in Portugal where the emphasis is on getting drug users into treatment.

Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor noted Trudeau has been clear that legalizing recreational marijuana is as far as he’s prepared to go in removing the criminal prohibition on drug use.

But Toronto MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith urged grassroots Liberals not to take no for an answer. “The government is committed to the grassroots, the government is committed to evidence and if we come out of this supporting (this resolution) I think the government will change its mind,” he told the workshop.

At another workshop, there was little evidence of support for are solution calling for the decriminalization of prostitution, proposed by the party’s youth commission.