Report Back from the Rally for Medicare
I spent the last week on the streets of Edmonton, where I joined with other public health care advocates to demand that the Liberals keep their promise and follow through on pharmacare.
After three days of protests and picketing at the Liberals’ cabinet retreat in Edmonton, I was in the airport when I got the news: Mark Carney had reaffirmed his pledge to reach agreements with “outstanding provinces … as quickly and as equitably as possible.”
Before they faced daily protests, Liberal Health Minister Marjorie Michel was feeling the heat but holding the Liberal line.
“Nobody can be against pharmacare,” Michel told iPolitics.ca shortly before the Liberal caucus meeting. When questioned about the future of Canada’s public drug plan, Michel insisted that the Carney government was open to expanding the first phase of pharmacare (no-cost coverage for insulin, diabetes medications, and contraceptives) to other provinces and territories – just not right away.
Liberals claimed that economic hard times caused by Trump’s tariffs mean they have to pull back on pharmacare across the country.
The same government is increasing military spending by $20.5 billion in this year alone, with plans to quadruple the military budget in the next few years.
The cuts, which appear close to being defeated, would leave four out of five Canadians high and dry when it comes to the National Pharmacare Plan.
Pharmacare may be one of the most studied policies in the world – there is no shortage of commissions, parliamentary reports and studies, all of which have come to the same conclusion: Canada’s health care system needs to cover prescription medications, and it needs to do so through a public, single-payer drug plan that extends to all Canadians.
Our rally was widely covered by local and national media, and billboards near the airport put up by Friend of Medicare and the Canadian Health Coalition (of which the Council of Canadians is a member) drove the message home. Our efforts helped put the issue on the agenda of the caucus retreat, where Members of Parliament meet to prepare for the coming legislative session.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen successive governments claim to be focused on cutting and saving, while engaging in building a soaring military budget and providing generous tax cuts that benefit those who are the least in need. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Carney has announced his intention to brutally downsize public services, slashing federal programs by a staggering 15 percent over the next three years and laying off as many as 50,000 federal workers.
The uproar from the Council of Canadians, along with health coalitions, unions, and other public health care defenders is clearly having an effect.
With your help we will keep the pressure up! It’s not too late to write to Health Minister Michel, if you haven’t yet:
Our coalition’s rally was widely covered by local and national media, and billboards near the airport drove the message home. Our combined efforts helped put the issue on the agenda of the caucus retreat, where Members of Parliament meet to prepare for the coming legislative session.
We’ve always known that only through people power can we stand up to powerful interests and continue to ensure the vital support we need.
In solidarity,
Nik Barry-Shaw
Trade and Privatization Campaigner
Council of Canadians
