(Ottawa) New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh mentions progress in negotiations on a drug insurance project central to the survival of the agreement with the Liberals, but he considers them insufficient.
“It’s a good sign, but we haven’t reached a complete or final solution,” he said Wednesday during a press briefing in Toronto.
Mr. Singh stressed that time is running out between now and 1er March, deadline set for Justin Trudeau’s minority government to table a pharmacare bill.
Without an outcome by then, the agreement supposed to ensure the Liberals remain in power until 2025 will be “broken,” reiterated the New Democratic leader.
“I think we are closer than in the past,” said Mr. Singh regarding the possibility of the deadline being met. He said he had seen “positive movement” during discussions between the parties which took place last weekend.
The New Democratic leader repeated that his troops are demanding that contraceptives and medications to treat diabetes be covered as a first step.
“It is up to the Liberal government to now finish the job, accept what we asked for and move forward,” said Mr. Singh.
He presented the demands put forward as an “offer that was almost final”.
The New Democratic Party (NDP) insists that the Liberal legislative proposal lays the foundation for a universal single-payer system, as recommended in a 2019 report that was commissioned by the Trudeau government.
The parties have already agreed to cover birth control through a single-payer program.
However, sources indicated last week that the Liberals were concerned about the costs associated with more categories of drugs being included. These sources were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the negotiations.
The agreement between the Liberals and the NDP initially called for the adoption of pharmacare legislation before the end of last year.
The political parties agreed in December to extend the deadline by three months and that the bill would only be tabled by then.
With information from Laura Osman