(Montreal) While praising the drug insurance program that the New Democratic Party (NDP) managed to conclude with the Liberals, New Democratic leader Jagmeet Singh described the Legault government as conservative and criticized it for not investing enough in health care.
At a press scrum in the foyer of the House of Commons on Monday, Mr. Singh said he was not surprised to see that Quebec and Alberta did not want to join federal drug insurance, which will currently cover contraceptive and diabetes medications.
“I am not surprised that Conservative governments have cut investments in health care. These are the same premiers who, when we look at their province, made massive cuts that hurt workers and patients,” he commented.
It’s up to Conservative premiers to explain why they won’t accept funding to help people in their province [qui] need help because they cannot afford diabetes medications.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh
The New Democratic leader added that the Quebec government does not invest “enough in health care and that is why [il y a] crises in several hospitals.”
Mr. Singh said he wanted to work and negotiate with the provinces to ensure that people have access to contraceptive and diabetes medications. “It will save a lot of money for people, but it will also save lives because we know that there are many Canadians across the country who cannot afford to buy the medications they need “, he said Monday.
Quebec, which has its own drug insurance plan covering part of the costs, wants the federal government to let it manage health matters.
“The government of Quebec has repeatedly reminded that health is an exclusive jurisdiction of Quebec. If the Government of Canada moves forward with this drug insurance project, the Government of Quebec will demand a right of withdrawal with full compensation,” the office of the Minister of Health of Quebec said in an email.
He argued that the province’s drug insurance plan has existed since 1997 and that it is a mixed plan “that works” and that Ottawa’s intervention “risks compromising it.”
“The Government of Canada should let the provinces take care of their areas of jurisdiction and play its role of adequately financing care by increasing health transfers,” argued the cabinet.
According to Mr. Singh, the New Democrats had to “fight very hard” to reach an agreement on contraceptive drugs and for diabetes. He said that if Canadians want to expand this program to other drugs, the NDP is the only party that has the desire to do so.
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