(Hamilton) New Democrats won’t settle for half-measures to establish a drug insurance program, even if it means abandoning their agreement with the Liberals. Its leader Jagmeet Singh and his group left the New Democratic Party (NDP) convention on Sunday with a resolution passed unanimously the day before for the Liberals’ bill, which is intended to lay the foundation for a “universal, comprehensive and fully public” program.
Posted at 3:39 p.m.
What there is to know
- At a convention in Hamilton, new Democratic delegates met and unanimously passed a resolution to make the Liberal drug insurance program bill widely and fully public.
- Delegates highlighted the NDP’s victory over the Conservatives in Manitoba.
- Four delegates lost their accreditation after their participation in a pro-Palestinian demonstration on Saturday caused outrage.
This is a show of force, said NDP national director Anne McGrath, even if this resolution is not binding.
“If you belong to a union and get a strong strike mandate, that gives you a better balance of power,” she compared.
The Liberals therefore have no choice but to accommodate the wishes of NDP members to continue to lead Parliament, argues the party’s deputy leader Alexandre Boulerice.
We will put them up against the wall and they will have the choice, either they respect the agreement that they themselves signed or they tell us that they no longer need us, in which case they will make things happen out of.
Alexandre Boulerice, deputy leader of the NDP
The Liberals promised to introduce a bill in the fall to create a drug insurance program, but the New Democrats rejected an initial version they deemed unsatisfactory. “They are running away,” denounced the party’s health spokesman, Don Davies, during the debate on the resolution on Saturday.
The cost of such a program would reach 13.4 billion after five years, and the savings it would achieve would reach 2.2 billion, as it would allow better prices for medicines, said the latest update from Parliament’s budget officer.
PHOTO PETER POWER, THE CANADIAN PRESS
NDP delegates unanimously vote on the resolution in favor of a universal and public drug insurance program in Hamilton on Saturday.
The NDP opposes a system designed only for people who don’t already have private drug insurance because it wouldn’t allow for a wholesale price to be negotiated.
“The Liberals will have to decide whether they want to side with pharmaceutical companies and their profits or whether they want to side with Canadian patients who are paying the third-highest price in the world,” the MP said in an interview.
“The reality is that the Liberals only act when the New Democrats force them to,” Jagmeet Singh reiterated in his speech Saturday, recalling the legacy of Tommy Douglas, the NDP’s first leader. “This is how we got health insurance and this is how we will get drug insurance.” »
Poilievre targeted
New Democrats’ victories across the country were highlighted, starting with Wab Kinew’s against the Progressive Conservatives in Manitoba. The New Democrat leader recently made history by becoming the first Indigenous person from a First Nation to be elected premier of a province.
“Across the country, New Democrats are fighting the Conservatives and winning,” Mr. Singh exclaimed, drawing applause.
One of those achievements is the Doug Ford administration’s reluctance to build homes in the Greenbelt, 800,000 acres of land that should be protected from urban sprawl. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) recently launched an investigation into the actions of the Progressive Conservative government.
PHOTO PETER POWER, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles in Hamilton on Sunday
“If you think Pierre Poilievre is different? Not a chance,” Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said in her speech.
Attacks against the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada continued throughout the weekend. Jagmeet Singh presented him as a member of the elite, detached from the reality of the common people. “He wants to cut the dental care program even though he himself has been paid by the public for 20 years,” he exclaimed.
The New Democrats want to confront the Conservative leader over his record in Stephen Harper’s cabinet, recalling his positions against workers’ rights and government cuts at the time.
Delegates excluded
However, the congress was marred by the withdrawal of the accreditations of four delegates following disruption by a pro-Palestinian demonstration on Saturday. Among them is the leader of the socialist NDP group, Barry Weisleder, who is calling for sanctions against Israel and an end to the agreement with the Liberals.
PHOTO PETER POWER, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Barry Weisleder, leader of the NDP Socialist Caucus, in Hamilton on Sunday
He had to set up his table with his flyers outside the Hamilton Convention Center. On Sunday, security officials refused him entry. “They don’t tolerate political differences very well,” said the longtime activist.
Was the party’s anti-harassment policy used to silence dissidents? “People felt they weren’t safe,” defended Anne McGrath, who made the decision to exclude her. “A lot of people were upset that there was a loud protest in the lobby. »
The disruptions failed to persuade delegates to take a tougher stance against Israel. The emergency resolution, adopted almost unanimously on Saturday, condemns both “all acts of anti-Semitism and anti-Palestinian hatred.”