The NDP is poised to give the Liberals more time to implement a universal public pharmaceutical coverage plan in Canada, pushing the possibility of a general election to the fall of 2025.
In the agreement reached by the NDP with the Liberals, Jagmeet Singh’s troops committed to supporting Justin Trudeau’s troops in crucial votes in the House of Commons until the fall of 2025, in return the Liberals had to launch a pharmacare program by the end of 2023.
However, just a few weeks before the deadline, there is still no draft law on this topic in sight.
According to sources who spoke first to the Globe and Mail and then to other media outlets, the NDP is willing to wait another year.
One of those unidentified sources said Health Minister Mark Holland speaks regularly with his NDP critic Don Davies. New Democrats believe it will be worth it if the wait results in a better program, the Globe found.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in mid-November that he received an initial draft bill to create drug insurance but rejected it because it did not suit his tastes.
“Right now the Liberals are trying to create laws to appease the pharmaceutical giants. We don’t care about you. We don’t want to appease them. We want to make sure Canadians can afford their medications,” he commented.
The parliamentary budget officer estimated in October that a drug insurance plan would cost federal and provincial governments $11.2 billion to implement.
In a minority in the House of Commons, the Liberal government desperately needs the NDP’s support to survive the vote. Otherwise the country could be plunged into elections, a grim path for Justin Trudeau’s troops, who are trailing Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives in the polls.