(Ottawa) The Conservative leader did not offer a categorical no on Tuesday to the creation of a pharmacare program. Pierre Poilievre believes that the question must be analyzed. He once again attacked the Trudeau government’s deficits and their impact on rising prices. The inflation rate rose again in August and is now at 4%, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.
“It’s easy to say: we’re not going to create programs. We want to reduce the cost of government,” he responded at a press briefing on Tuesday when asked if he would finance a national and universal drug insurance program.
The government plans to table a bill this fall to lay the foundations for such a program. “This will be a major step forward in the history of this country,” said the leader of the government in the House, Karina Gould, during the re-opening of parliament the day before. She called on all parties to collaborate.
“Will this take away the coverage that Canadians already have? “, asked Mr. Poilievre, emphasizing that a majority of Canadians already have some form of insurance to pay for their medications.
“Will a national program force employers to cancel these programs for these employees? »
The New Democratic Party (NDP) is urging the government to create a national and universal pharmacare program whose net cost would amount to $19.3 billion, according to a study carried out in 2017 by the Parliamentary Budget Officer. This request is part of the agreement reached with the Liberals to allow them to govern as if they were the majority until 2025.
The Conservative leader attacked both parties. “After eight years of Trudeau and the NDP, everything costs more. Work doesn’t pay. Housing costs double and it gets worse every day,” he said in English. In French, he instead attacked the Bloc Québécois and the carbon tax.
“What’s most terrifying is that the inflation that Trudeau has driven up will put more pressure on the Bank of Canada to raise the key rate even further at a time when Canadians are the most in debt in the world. G7,” he added.
Pierre Poilievre did not repeat his threat to fire Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem, as he did in July. He actually cited it this time. “As the Governor of the Bank of Canada says, these are factors [intérieurs] that cause inflation,” he said.
He promises to eliminate the deficit by notably cutting the Infrastructure Bank and the ArriveCan application. The latest federal budget forecasts a deficit of 40 billion this year which would gradually decrease to 14 billion in five years.
The Conservative leader also wants to put a cap on new spending with legislation that would force the government to find a dollar of savings for every dollar of new spending.