Yesterday, Eric Hoskins introduced the results of his panel's research into a national pharmacare program. Ontario's former Minister of Health is thinking big. And so is Justin Trudeau. Susan Delacourt writes:
It’s been a while since Canadian politics delved into national universal social programs — daycare was the last big one on the political agenda, and that died in the 2006 election that brought Stephen Harper’s Conservatives to power.
Hoskins, who has been heading up a federal advisory council on pharmacare for the past year, even supplied some of the script for lofty speeches on the Liberal campaign trail this fall.
“This is our generation’s national project,” Hoskins said when he unveiled the council’s recommendations. “Let’s complete the unfinished business of universal health care.”
Trudeau has made some other big promises which didn't work out as planned:
Electoral reform didn’t quite work out as planned, neither did the vow on modest deficits, carbon taxation or harmony with the provinces.
But he wants to present himself as the progressive alternative. And the NDP also advocates establishing a national phramacare program. You can be sure the Conservatives will rain on the idea. They've already done that in Ontario:
[Kathleen] Wynne rolled out universal, OHIP+ coverage for the under-25 group in Ontario in 2017, we might recall, but Ford’s new Conservative government announced a rollback almost immediately after being sworn in a year ago. As of April this year, free prescription drugs are only provided to young people who don’t have private insurance coverage.
So how will it all work out? Stay tuned.
Image: Canada.ca
8 comments:
I was thinking about writing a post on this very topic, Owen, but you have covered it in a way that makes it unnecessary. I do think that what we are witnessing emanating from Team Trudeau is the smell of fear, perhaps even desperation. I regard Justin's fervour for pharmacare with the same cynicism he engendered after abandoning his vow of electoral reform.
Justin's abandonment of electoral reform has coloured everything he does, Lorne. Lots of us voted for him primarily because we wanted to see some kind of proportional representation. I'd really like to see a national pharmacare program. But Trudeau's failure to deliver electoral reform makes me skeptical that he could deliver on pharmacare -- particularly because it requires buy in from the provinces.
Adding to what you both have said, Trudeau now has a record of kowtowing to big corporations. Can you imagine Trudeau forcing the pharmaceutical industry to accept demands? I can't.
Couldn't have said it better myself Owen. Sucked in no longer I can only commit to the Greens regardless of the outcome. I still live in a Con bastion both federal and provincial with no chance of seeing the light. So my vote will never be misconstrued as a waste or strategic for that matter. I wonder if "Sunny Ways" understands the full weight of his misdeeds.
The last two years have made voters skeptical about Justin's promises, Toby. We'll soon know if he can still make the sale.
My riding is pretty Conservative, zoombats -- although, last time aroud we sent a Liberal to Ottawa. I honestly can't predict how things will go this time around.
Babble on the Bay, one wizened old Lowry Lib chewing half-cooked pabulum of a morn, characterizes Greens this way:
"And that basically leaves those people painted green. They remind me of the druids in ancient Briton who worshipped trees and painted their backsides blue."
Things must be getting beyond desperate in Libera-lala-land. All hands on deck to repel boarders by any insult thought necessary. And let's misspell Britain as Briton while we're on a roll, say the Liberal brains trust of washed-up dopes. Out of it with worry for their pensions, these people. My own Liberal MP has managed to sew his lips together for four years and do nothing whatsoever for our constituency - some of us thought he'd died but no one noticed, but a check of the obit turned nothing up.
Hopefully, anyone here is beyond believing Liberal promises on single-use plastics and free drugs trotted out on cue just before an election? It's their standard tactic of lying to gain a few votes, while in actual office they do nothing except butter up old Quebec "friends" like SNC-L and squawk about jobs, try to bribe Albertans with a pipeline on all our dimes, and implement none of their previously-announced grandiose promises.
I shall take even more enormous and unbridled pleasure in voting Green than before this stupid outburst.
BM
The comments at this site suggest that the Greens are going to do very well in the next election, BM. There's nothing scientific about this survey. But I confess I will be really interested to see how well comments here track the public mood.
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