NDP calls out Conservatives for effort to quash pharmacare legislation

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh rises during during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, April 29, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

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 kill 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 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 was "trying to time-allocate a bill using a point-of-order."

In a letter sent Sunday to Poilievre and Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh criticized the Official Opposition for moving to block the bill at its "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."

Later Monday, Health Minister Mark Holland passed – with the NDP's help – a motion to limit the debate time allotted to Bill C-64 at second reading to no more than five further hours. MPs then began debating the Conservative amendment, which will have to be voted on before the legislation can advance.

Getting in on the calling out of the Conservatives, during question period Holland accused the Conservatives of standing in the way of women accessing "the reproductive aids they need to have control over their reproductive futures."

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 nine 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. In a statement to CTV News, Poilievre spokesperson Sebastian Skamski called Singh's comments "false and ridiculous."

"Jagmeet Singh is the junior coalition partner in Justin Trudeau's costly Liberal-NDP government, which has a majority in the House of Commons and can ram through any legislation it wants in a matter of days," he said, citing concerns about the potential impacts Bill C-64 would have on existing employers' insurance plans.

"Common sense Conservatives do not believe that a bill such as this should be passed without proper debate and scrutiny," Skamski said.

On Tuesday, patients affected by the pharmacare bill will come to Parliament Hill to press politicians to strengthen Bill C-64, and pass it as soon as possible.