FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 29, 2024
Ottawa – Today, the Liberals introduced their long-promised legislation for a national pharmacare program.
Christina Warner, Council of Canadians Executive Director, issued the following statement:
“Today we’re celebrating a major win for people power against corporate greed. For too long, wealthy corporations have stood in the way of progress on a public pharmacare plan. But today, patients have finally prevailed. Now, the government must rapidly fund, implement, and expand the program, to fully meet the needs of Canadians and bring drug prices down.”
“By embracing the principles of universal, single-payer health care, this bill lays the foundation for a system that can finally protect Canadians from price gouging by Big Pharma and insurance giants and dramatically improve access to much-needed medications. In the short term, universal coverage of birth control and diabetes medication will offer life-changing relief to millions of Canadians.”
“While we are pleased to see framework legislation that sets us on the right track, as long as the program remains largely on paper and limited in its scope and coverage, our victory will be fragile. To solidify this win, the Council of Canadians will be pressing the government to rapidly fund the program and expand coverage to include all essential medications.”
Recent polling commissioned by the Council of Canadians found that a decisive majority of Canadians (2 out of 3) support a public universal pharmacare program, including almost half of Conservative voters and 78% of Liberal voters.
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For interviews, please contact:
Donya Ziaee, The Council of Canadians
media@canadians.org, 613-404-2004
