Liberals say pharmacare legislation won't be passed this year

Liberals acknowledged the government willnot be able to fulfil a key promise to New Democrats by the end of this year passing pharmacare legislation.

The Liberal minister in charge of the government's agenda in the House of Commons acknowledged what many suspected Tuesday.

"I don't think we are going to get it passed by the end of this year but we will definitely keep working, and those conversations are productive," said Liberal House leader Karina Gould.

The Liberal minority government relies on New Democrats' votes to pass legislation through a formal confidence-and-supply agreement both parties signed. Under that agreement, the NDP agrees to support essential government legislation in exchange for the Liberals advancing several NDP policy priorities.

According to the wording of that agreement, one of those NDP priorities is to pass "a Canada Pharmacare Act by the end of 2023 and then [task] the National Drug Agency to develop a national formulary of essential medicines and bulk purchasing plan by the end of the agreement."

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NDP House leader Peter Julian says, If the government needs more time, they are going to have to provide more help to Canadians.

After Gould spoke, Health Minister Mark Holland said the goal is still to table pharmacare legislation by the end of this year and then see it passed at a later date. He said negotiations are continuing with the NDP.

Asked by reporters whether this violated the confidence-and-supply agreement his party signed with New Democrats, Hollandsaid it would be too early to speculate, but conversations have been "fruitful and positive."

Holland did say the Liberal NDP deal recognizes that there are things both parties will disagree on, but there's room for that.

"If you allow yourself to be locked in by the rigidity of those words instead of the spirit which they represent, then I think you miss the point," Holland said.

New Democrats may not see it that way.

NDP tells Liberals to sweeten the deal

Yesterday, the party said if the Liberal government can't honour its vow to pass pharmacare legislation by the end of this year, it will have to enhance the legislation to deliver "more results."

A statement fromNDPdirector of communications Alana Cahill suggested the party is willing togive the government more time if the Liberals give ita good reason to wait.

"If more time is required, we expect more results for Canadians," Cahill said.

It's not clear from the statement and follow-up questions to the NDP what the party means by "more results."Cahill'sstatement came after thethe Globe and Mailcited asource saying the NDP is open to waiving an end-of-year deadline for pharmacare legislation.

The Liberal minority government relies on New Democrats' votes to pass legislation through a formal confidence-and-supplyagreement both parties signed. Under that agreement, the NDP agrees to support essential government legislation in exchange for the Liberals advancing several NDP policy priorities.

According to the wording of that agreement, one of those NDP priorities is to pass"a Canada Pharmacare Act by the end of 2023 and then [task] the National Drug Agency to develop a national formulary of essential medicines and bulk purchasing plan by the end of the agreement."

Cahill's statement says that if the Liberals can'tcome to the table with a better offer, the NDPstill expects the Liberals to introduce pharmacarelegislation.

"Negotiations are still ongoing, and our talks remain constructive," Cahill said. "We believe there is enough time left for the government to honour its commitment in the supply and confidence agreement."

A source within the NDPsaid the party realizes it may take more time to pass the legislation through the Senate. The government does not control the agenda in the Red Chamber.

Canadians wouldn'tnecessarilysee a fully funded national pharmacare program following passage of a pharmacare bill. Setting up the system might takeseveral years.

Pharmacare saves money: PBO

The Liberals have faced pressure within the party to deliver on pharmacare. In 2019, an advisory council appointed by the Liberal government recommended establishing a universal, single-payer public pharmacare system first with an initial list of common and essential drugs and then with a comprehensive formulary. The advisory council estimated such a system would cost $15 billion a year oncefully implemented.

The council also said that,once implemented, the pharmacare program would cut the sum Canadians spend prescription drugs by roughly $5 billion a year.

It proposed a $2 co-payment for common drugs and $5 for less common ones. Fees would be waived for those on low incomes or social assistance.

In a recent report, the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimatedthat a single-payer universal drug plan would cost federal and provincial governments $11.2 billion in the first year and $13.4 billion annually in five years.

The economy-wide savings, the PBO estimates, would be around $1.4 billion in 2024-25, rising to $2.2 billion in 2027-28.

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NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says the federal government is now working on some amendments to pharmacare legislation.

But forecasts ofhigher-than-expected budget deficitsforthe next few years and lower economic growth in 2024 are raising questions about whether Ottawa can afford pharmacare right now. Interest rates are at a 20-year highand the cost of servicing federal government debt has spiked from $20.3 billion in 2020-21 to $46.5 billion in this fiscal year.

Holland said Tuesday discussions on the "art of the possible" are happening, but would not reveal more details on negotiations.

A statement from Health Minister Mark Holland's office did not say whether the Liberals believe they canget legislation passed through the House and Senate by the end of this year.

"Our goal remains to table our pharmacare legislation this year," said a statement from theminister's press secretary, Christopher Aoun.

Aoun added negotiations with the NDP are continuingand Holland andNDPhealth critic Don Davies "have a very good working relationship."

New Democratsurge the party to stand firm

New Democrats unanimously passed a motion at their October policy convention calling on the partyto stand firm onpharmacare even if it means ending their political agreement with the Liberals.

The motion, now official NDP policy, does not force the NDP caucus to do anything. But it gives NDP MPs the backing of the party's membership to walk away from the arrangement if the Liberals do not agree to a public, universal, single-payer system.

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Pharmacare legislation won't make end-of-year deadline, Liberals say

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The Liberals say they will miss an end-of-the-year deadline to pass pharmacare legislation one of the key demands in the supply-and-confidence agreement with the NDP that is keeping the Liberal minority government in power.

According to the resolution, the "continued confidence-and-supply is contingent on government legislation that commits to a universal, comprehensive and entirely public pharmacare program."

The motion doesn't suggest a timeline for achieving pharmacarebut it lays out what the bill should look like.

In an interview on Monday with CBCNews, James Brunet, the original drafter of that motion, said his advice to caucusis to stand firm and take action if the Liberalsdon't deliver.

"If you allow the Liberals to not deliver on this key promise, you weaken your long-term negotiating ability," Brunet said. "We need to have some sort of consequence (otherwise) in future minority governments, we might not be taken as seriously."