QUESTION PERIOD — Health
Pharmacare Strategy
April 27, 2023
My question is for the Government Representative regarding national pharmacare.
The December 2021 mandate letter from the Prime Minister to the Minister of Health includes direction to engage with willing provinces and territories toward universal national pharmacare, proceed with a national strategy on high-cost drugs for rare diseases and advance the establishment of the Canada drug agency.
Similarly, the Delivering for Canadians Now, A Supply and Confidence Agreement of March 2022 between the Liberals and NDP commits to universal national pharmacare. That commitment was further clarified in Budget 2022, which stated:
. . . the federal government will also continue its ongoing work towards a universal national pharmacare program. This will include tabling a Canada Pharmacare bill and working to have it passed by the end of 2023, and then tasking the Canadian Drug Agency to develop a national formulary of essential medicines and bulk purchasing plan.
But there is no reference to it in Budget 2023 — not in the actual budget document, not in the minister’s speech and not in the notice of ways and means motion tabled in the other place last week.
Senator Gold, what has happened to the government’s interest in national pharmacare and the commitment to pass legislation by the end of this year?
Thank you for your question.
The government remains committed to taking steps toward pharmacare, and it is in active discussions, as you would expect, with not only the NDP — because, as you properly mentioned, this is part of the supply and confidence agreement — but as you also appreciate, Senator Osler, this is also a matter over which to engage the provinces and territories. Any sensible plan needs to make sure it will land properly with the partners in the jurisdictions that have primary responsibility.
As well, the budget to which you made reference had to strike an important balance between continuing to invest in the future, providing assistance to Canadians who have gone through difficult times and being fiscally responsible. It is the position of the government that it did strike that balance, but this particular budget, for several reasons, was not one in which additional expenditures could be made, above and beyond the massive investments in health care to which I have already referred.
But the government continues to treat it seriously and is working with its partners to move it forward.
The federal government found a willing partner in Prince Edward Island. Beginning in 2021, the two governments have been working toward universal pharmacare. In Budget 2022, there was a funding promise of $35 million over four years to build upon the agreement with P.E.I.
Senator Gold, as you mentioned, the government is currently negotiating bilateral health care agreements with the provinces individually. Is it building upon the P.E.I. experience and making universal pharmacare part of those bilateral health care negotiations?
Thank you. That’s a very good question.
It allows me to remind colleagues that one of the elements of the agreements in principle that have been struck is precisely that they call for bilateral agreements. That is important because every province has its own needs in health care, its own priorities and its own programs in place for which it needs and seeks additional funds to operate even more effectively for the benefit of its citizens.
Again, without knowing what is going on in negotiations between the federal government and, say, Manitoba, Nova Scotia or any of the other provinces or territories, if it is a priority of the provincial government, they will bring that to the table, and they will have a willing partner in the federal government in the course of those negotiations.
