Health Minister Mark Holland appeals to Senate not to amend pharmacare bill

Health Minister Mark Holland rises during Question Period, in Ottawa, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

Health Minister Mark Holland is urging senators not to tweak the pharmacare bill he carefully negotiated with the NDP earlier this year.

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The bill would underpin a national, single-payer pharmacare program and allow the health minister to negotiate with provinces and territories to cover some diabetes and contraceptive medications.

It was the result of weeks of political negotiations with the New Democrats, who early this year threatened to pull out of their supply-and-confidence deal with the Liberals unless they could agree on the wording.

Independent Senator Rosemary Moodie says academics and experts have suggested changes to improve the bill to several of the senators tasked with reviewing it before it becomes law. 

Holland says he respects the role of the Senate, but that the pharmacare legislation was "balanced on a pinhead," and every word was carefully debated and argued over.

Holland is also asking senators to move quickly to pass the legislation, to avoid lending credence to Conservative critiques that the program doesn't actually exist. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.