A month after the conclusion of an alliance between the federal Liberals and the New Democrats, a union poll shows that more than 7 out of 10 Quebecers would currently be “in favor” of the implementation of a public and universal drug insurance plan, a claim of Jagmeet Singh’s troops.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
“More than ever, we believe in it. The planets have never been so well aligned for such a diet, and we must not let that pass. Especially because it is not certain that this alignment will return one day. We have to hit the nail hard,” explains The Press the general secretary of the Quebec division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Frédéric Brisson.
His group’s survey, released Thursday, reveals that 73% of Quebecers – out of a sample of 1,500 respondents surveyed on a web panel in early April – would like a universal drug insurance plan. Nearly 30% of respondents say they are “very favorable” to the measure, and 44%, “fairly favorable”.
Data cross-referenced and compiled by the firm CROP show that this support is particularly strong at the provincial level among solidarity voters (85%), as well as among the Liberals (80%) and New Democrats (86%) at the federal level. Support remains high, however, even among the caquists (79%) and the bloquists (74%), in particular. In general, 71% of respondents believe that this scheme should be entirely free and paid for by the State.
But by whom, exactly? Ottawa or Quebec? On this point, the people surveyed are also unanimous; 77% of them want to see the two governments “collaborate”.
Skill Wars to Avoid
At SCFP-Québec, Frédéric Brisson calls on the two levels of government to “put aside” the jurisdictional wars and to “work for the people”. “With the provincial campaign coming up, what we are asking Quebec political parties to do is agree with the federal government, stop fighting over jurisdiction and see this project through,” he said. .
According to the data provided by his union, a Quebecer pays an average of $1,144 per year for medication, while the OECD average barely reaches $719 annually.
At the end of March, the Liberals announced that they had reached a negotiated agreement with the New Democrat troops of Jagmeet Singh, in order to remain in power until June 2025. The union is of course far from having the seal of approval of the Party Conservative and the Bloc Québécois.
Nevertheless, as part of this agreement, the Liberals had committed to passing legislation to implement pharmacare in the provinces that do not have it by the end of 2023, a demand of the New Party democratic. Moreover, in the CUPE-Québec survey, 73% of the 1,500 respondents said they “rather” or “totally” agree with the fact that the Legault government should “join” this possible drug insurance, if it sees the light of day.
“With a federal program, we would have greater purchasing power for drugs across Canada, that’s for sure. If everyone agrees, it is ultimately the citizen who will pay less. We will also reduce labor costs for businesses,” analyzes Mr. Brisson.
Not without pitfalls
According to Stéphanie Chouinard, professor of political science at Queen’s University, it is certain that the implementation of a universal plan would not be done “without pitfalls, especially in Quebec”, which already relies on plans of the type “collective insurance “.
In the survey, 42% of respondents with group insurance, however, deplored having seen their spending on drugs increase in recent years.
“A universal plan seems to be a consensual measure, all parties combined, so it is sure to be a game-changer. It could be done if everyone decides to collaborate, and it goes from both sides. But if the federal government arrives with its big clogs and wants to impose a program with a lot of rigidity, which does not leave room for a certain adaptation, it will not work, ”says Ms.me Chouinard.
If the measure is unanimous, it will pay off politically, concludes the expert. “All political parties watch the polls. And the best decision to make, both for the CAQ and for the federal Liberals, even for the Bloc, is to take this desire into account. »