QUEBEC CITY — As part of the release of his Quebec platform, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh promised to reverse the cuts to health care started by the Conservatives and continued by Justin Trudeau. He committed to restore federal healthcare funding and make health care stronger and more affordable with a commitment to bring in a national pharmacare program and hire more front-line workers.
“Throughout this pandemic nurse, doctors and health care workers have made sacrifices to be there for Canadians when they were sick and dying. In our country’s darkest times, they were our heroes; now they are exhausted. We owe it to them to make our health care system stronger,” said Jagmeet. “Justin Trudeau promised to make life better for Canadians with universal drug coverage and an end to Harper’s cuts, but he voted against our plan to lower families drug costs. He won’t do it, but I will.”
In 2011, the Harper Conservatives cut the annual Canada Health Transfer increase in half. In 2015, Justin Trudeau campaigned on a promise to inject more funding into the health care system with a commitment to implement universal pharmacare, but once he was in office he continued Harper’s cuts and abandoned his promise. But he barely mentions pharmacare in his platform and provides no funding for it.
Jagmeet pledged to end decades of Liberal and Conservative neglect with a commitment to reverse the health care cuts Canadians can get the care they need, when they need it.
He promised to establish a national pharmacare program that would eliminate prescription drug fees for every Canadian. This commitment would save the provinces $4 billion a year in health care costs, and would save the average family $550 a year in medication costs.
