Hello,
A raft of cabinet ministers gathered at the Centertown Community Health Centre in Ottawa to announce that the government was tabling pharmacare legislation on Thursday, one day before the deadline set by the supply and confidence agreement with the NDP.
The legislation would create a framework for an eventual single-payer system, and in the shorter term, provide universal coverage for certain contraceptives and diabetes drugs. Kristy Kirkup and Marieke Walsh have the details on what’s contained in the bill:
The bill is the result of lengthy negotiations between the Liberals and the New Democratic Party. The federal government will now work to implement the program and pass the legislation before the next election, which must happen by fall 2025. At the same time, the federal government also needs the co-operation of the provinces and territories.
The bill says the minister may – if an agreement has been reached to do so – make payments to a province or territory in order to increase any existing public pharmacare coverage and to provide “universal single-payer” coverage for specific prescription drugs and related products intended for contraception or the treatment of diabetes.
The legislation also says the minister must, no later than 30 days after the bill receives royal assent, establish a committee of experts to make recommendations on options for the operation and financing of “national, universal, single-payer pharmacare.”
Health Minister Mark Holland said funding for the program would not be in the coming 2024-25 budget.
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TODAY'S HEADLINES
Canada reimposes visa requirements for Mexicans after surge in asylum claims: Immigration Minister Marc Miller has reimposed visa requirements for Mexicans visiting Canada after a sharp increase in asylum claims, most of which have been rejected.
Censored documents about Winnipeg scientists reveal threat to Canada’s security: Two scientists at Canada’s high-security infectious disease laboratory – Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng – provided confidential scientific information to China and were fired after a probe concluded she posed “a realistic and credible threat to Canada’s economic security” and it was discovered they engaged in clandestine meetings with Chinese officials, documents tabled in the House reveal.
Defence department suspends top ArriveCan contractor who was also a public servant: David Yeo, the president and founder of Dalian Enterprises, a private company that received $7.9-million to work on the ArriveCan app, was also working as a public servant with the Department of National Defence and has now been suspended.
TODAY’S POLITICAL QUOTES
“Most of this was held in the imagination and theatre of our minds. So bringing it into the real world, so we can see how these effectively function, what are the costs, how much do they save, how would we pay for them, associated with this is a committee to take a look at many of those questions so we can go deeper.” - Mark Holland explaining the “iterative” approach to pharmacare.
“You’re always thinking of your legacy. You’re trying to define as much as possible your own legacy, because God knows there’s lots of pundits who will try and define it for you the minute you step down.” – former Manitoba premier Gary Doer reflecting on the mindset when you walk away from politics.
THIS AND THAT
Today in the Commons: Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, Feb. 29, accessible here.
Deputy Prime Minister’s day: Private meetings in Toronto, and Chrystia Freeland meets with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national voice of the Inuit in Canada, as part of prebudget consultations.
Ministers on the road:
Commons Committee Highlights: Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Thomas Carrique is among the witnesses appearing before the public-safety committee on growing car thefts in Canada. Auditor-General Karen Hogan appears before the public-accounts committee on public accounts of Canada, 2023. Benjamin Roebuck, federal ombudsperson for victims of crime, appeared before the justice-and-human-rights committee on Bill C-332. Raymond Théberge, official languages commissioner, appeared before the official-languages committee on language obligations related to the process of staffing or making appointments to key positions.
Senate Committee Highlights: International Trade Minister Mary Ng appears before the foreign affairs and international-trade committee on Bill C-57 to implement the 2023 free-trade agreement between Canada and Ukraine.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
In Thunder Bay, Ont., Justin Trudeau made a housing announcement and held a news conference.
LEADERS
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was scheduled to hold a fundraising event at a private residence in Toronto.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May travels to Vancouver.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh held a news conference and participated in Question Period.
THE DECIBEL
On Monday, Calgary-based discount airline Lynx Air, which launched a mere two years ago, ceased operations. For customers, that means they’re likely not getting refunds and will have to find alternate and possibly more expensive tickets to their destinations.
This is a familiar story in Canada. Discount airlines have come and gone with only a few years of operation under their belt. The Globe’s transportation reporter, Eric Atkins is on the show to explain why discount airlines keep failing in Canada and what that means for flyers looking for a deal.
PUBLIC OPINION
A new Leger poll has Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives again leading the Liberals – by 16 points this time. Beneath that horse race headline is the fact that nearly two-thirds of Canadians believe their household finances are solid, a finding that adds some complexity to the constant drumbeat about economic angst.
OPINION
Carelessness with security, as seen in the Winnipeg lab, has consequences
“How did this happen? Nobody was looking, not really. The little things, like breaches of e-mail protocol, didn’t get noticed, sure. But the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg wasn’t on the lookout for espionage. Neither was the government of Canada, in a sense. It wasn’t tuned in to the extensive efforts of Beijing to gain advantage from scientific and academic research.” - Campbell Clark
Forty years later, Pierre Trudeau’s walk in the snow still resonates
“[Pierre Trudeau] alienated the West with the National Energy Program and caustic putdowns. He’d brought in the new Constitution without Quebec’s signature. He’d left relations with Washington in disrepair and he’d left his own Liberal Party, which he’d led to so many victories, fractious. It would soon bitterly divide into John Turner and Jean Chrétien factions.
Mr. Trudeau was far more than a disrupter, however. The paradox was that if he left the country divided, he also left it – and it’s a reason he’s always ranked among the most favoured PMs – strengthened. With his intellectual rigour, counterculture panache and gunslinger grit, he gave Canada backbone.” - Lawrence Martin
Canada’s plan to require visas from some Mexicans is a dangerous overreaction
“It was clearly tempting for Ottawa to reach once again for this kill switch, especially amid public pressure from Quebec and the United States. But it should not have taken such drastic action. Instead, it should get serious about tackling the real roots of the problem: organized crime, which is playing a central role not just in spurring more and more asylum seekers and migrants to flee northward to safety, but in the smuggling and trafficking of people across borders, including our own.” - Lloyd Axworthy, Rafael Fernandez De Castro and Fen Osler Hampson
Canada is unprepared for the return of large-scale global wars
“The threats we face are different from any since the Cold War ended. When the USSR disbanded it was widely believed that the era of what might be called “big war” was over. The danger that fleets of tanks would roll across Europe was finished, as was the possibility of large-scale maritime engagements aimed at wresting control of sea. Instead, we faced skirmish wars involving determined adversaries in developing countries, such as Afghanistan and Yemen. These would have their own challenges, to be sure, but they would not contain the threat of the kinds of massive, globe-spanning conflicts we feared during the Cold War. This is now changing.” - Peter Jones.
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Shannon Proudfoot