The federal New Democrats are calling out Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and his party for trying to block the bill that could pave the way for millions of Canadians to access birth control and diabetes coverage.
On Monday in the House of Commons, NDP House Leader Peter Julian tried to advance a unanimous consent motion proposing to expedite the federal government’s pharmacare legislation into the committee study stage.
Tabled in late February, Bill C-64 broadly outlines the “foundational principles” of a national universal drug coverage plan, while not directly implementing one.
The legislation instead includes an interim commitment to launch diabetes medication and birth control coverage for Canadians, through a single-payer system, contingent on provincial and territorial agreement.
During the first day of House debate on the bill in mid-April, Conservative MP and health critic Stephen Ellis moved to essentially squash the bill at the outset.
He proposed MPs “decline to give second reading” to Bill C-64, “since the bill does nothing to address the health care crisis and will instead offer Canadians an inferior pharmacare plan that covers less, costs more, and builds up a massive new bureaucracy that Canadians can’t afford.”
Julian’s Monday motion also sought to withdraw Ellis’ attempt to halt Bill C-64, but it was quickly met with some disapproval by other MPs in the chamber, rendering it null.
While MPs are not supposed to then name which party dissented, Julian then asked “just to clarify, the Conservatives said no?” House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus would not confirm, beyond saying there was not unanimous consent.
Chiming in, Conservative MP John Nater said the NDP were “trying to time-allocate a bill using a point-of-order.”
In a letter NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh sent Sunday to Poilievre and Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer, Singh criticized the Official Opposition for moving to block the bill at their “earliest opportunity”.
“As you know, Canadians are facing a cost-of-living crisis, and this crisis has real impacts on people’s health. Nearly one-in-four Canadians have reported splitting pills, skipping doses, or deciding to not fill or renew vital prescription medications due to their high costs. This cannot continue,” Singh said.
The weekend letter gave the Conservatives notice of Monday’s procedural move, and stated: “We hope that you have had time to reconsider your amendment, and that you will support moving this important initiative forward as quickly as possible.”
Reacting to the outcome, Singh vowed his party will now “use tools at our disposal to ensure Canadians have access to free birth control and diabetes medications at the earliest opportunity.”
The government has estimated that this first phase of pharmacare – if all provinces and territories buy in – would improve access to diabetes medications and supplies that Canada’s 3.7 million diabetics require, as well as provide a suite of options for the more than 9 million people of reproductive age, including oral contraceptives, IUDs, and morning-after pills.
The 2024 federal budget earmarked $1.5 billion over five years to launch the first phase of this program.
“While Canadians scrimp and save to afford food and rent, Pierre Poilievre is clear: he doesn’t want you to have free life-saving medications,” Singh said in a statement. “While he’s been benefiting from coverage paid by the public for his whole political career.”
Poilievre was at an event off of the Hill when the procedural wrangling went down Monday morning.
On Tuesday, patents affected by the pharmacare bill will coming to Parliament Hill to press politicians to strengthen Bill C-64, and pass it as soon as possible.
