Legislation to bring national pharmaceutical coverage to Canadians is expected to be brought to the House of Commons next week, ahead of the March deadline set by New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh.
Pharmacare is a key part of the unofficial Liberal-NDP coalition, which was formed in March 2022. In this “supply and confidence” pact, Singh promised to support the Trudeau Liberals’ minority government with votes in Parliament for the duration of their electoral term if they back the NDP’s shared policy priorities, like funnelling money to Big Pharma.
BREAKING: NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party’s deal to support the Trudeau Liberals is ending on March 1 if a pharmacare bill isn’t passed.
“If they break their promise … the agreement no longer exists,” Singh says.https://t.co/vD78U4ZuZQ pic.twitter.com/emN7ydBoZm— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) February 13, 2024
When the supply and confidence agreement was announced, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that a ‘Canada Pharmacare Act’ would be passed by the end of 2022.
The task was supposed to fall to the National Drug Agency, with a “national formulary of essential medicines and bulk purchasing plan,” but Trudeau missed his own deadline last year.
The Liberals selected former Ontario Liberal health minister Dr. Eric Hoskins to lead an advisory council to evaluate the plans for national pharmacare in 2018. At that time, the council determined that the program would cost approximately $15 billion annually.
Freeland previously testified at the Commons finance committee, stating, ‘The increase in the borrowing authority is in no way a blank cheque. Every single expenditure by the government needs to be authorized by Parliament.’
MORE: https://t.co/KSCqpOq2C2 pic.twitter.com/ZYHXhNQNIh
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) February 21, 2024
The news comes days after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland increased federal borrowing capacity to a record $517 billion, amid a cost of living crisis in the country.
It’s par for the course for the Liberals, who keep ballooning Canada’s national debt, which has doubled since Trudeau took office in 2015 and now sits at a monstrous $1.2 trillion. With interest rates at a 20-year high, this is not good news for Canadian taxpayers and their debt inheritors i.e. children.
Canada’s Finance Department does not know how much taxpayers are on the hook for in debt interest costs — yeah, you heard that right. https://t.co/Hf1L1E8uB4
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) October 7, 2023
As Canadians struggle to pay bills, are lining up in record numbers at food banks, and are taxed on tax through the federal government’s climate policies, many are left wondering why taxpayers are on the hook for yet another national social program that they cannot afford.
