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council of canadians
Canadians Cheer 'Big Deal' Plan for Single-Payer Pharmacare
However, at least two provinces—Alberta and Quebec—have said they would opt out, which critics called "outrageous."
Feb 26, 2024
Advocates of boosting Canadians' access to prescription drugs in recent days have cautiously celebrated forthcoming legislation for a universal national pharmacare program, which will begin with coverage of contraceptives and diabetes medication.
The supply and confidence agreement between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals and the New Democratic Party (NDP)—announced in 2022 and set to continue through the middle of next year—called for "passing a Canada Pharmacare Act by the end of 2023 and then tasking the National Drug Agency to develop a national formulary of essential medicines and bulk purchasing plan by the end of the agreement."
However, the parties last year agreed to push it until March 1. With that deadline rapidly approaching, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh on Friday confirmed to CTV News that the parties had struck a deal on "historic" draft legislation.
"I can proudly say that not only do we have legislation that specifically refers to single-payer, that refers to the Canada Health Act, and the principles and values, we also have secured commitments to delivering diabetes medication and contraceptives using a single-payer public model," Singh said in a Sunday appearance on CTV.
The draft hasn't yet been introduced, but Nikolas Barry-Shaw, the trade and privatization campaigner at the Council of Canadians, highlighted in a Monday analysis that "several leaks (if correct) have suggested the Canada Pharmacare Act will include plans to develop a list of essential medicines that would be covered by pharmacare and a bulk purchasing plan, as well as an 'implementation council' to advise on financing."
"This represents one of the biggest advances in Canadian healthcare in decades but it's nevertheless a fragile victory," Barry-Shaw declared. "The program would be life-changing for people who rely on birth control and diabetes medications, and after the legislation is passed we hope the formulary will be expanded so more people can have that life-changing access to medicines."
Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labor Congress, also welcomed the win, saying Friday that "this is a BIG deal" and "represents the most significant enhancement to our healthcare system since the creation of public healthcare in Canada."
"I have personally heard from workers unable to afford their diabetes medications, and parents faced with the heart-wrenching choice between feeding their children or providing them with essential lifesaving medicines," Bruske continued, taking aim at Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre, who said he wants to see the plan's details when asked about it on Friday.
"These are the struggles many Canadians face daily—not the fake outrage that Mr. Poilievre is talking about these days. The introduction of a universal single-payer pharmacare program is not just a policy change; it's a lifeline that will bring tangible improvements to the lives of countless individuals," Bruske stressed. "This achievement is a testament to the power of collective effort and advocacy."
While the plan, as Barry-Shaw detailed, would involve the federal government buying prescription drugs in bulk, so that everyone in Canada with a health card can get them without any out-of-pocket costs, "pharmacare will be delivered through provincial drug plans," which, as he the campaigner put it, is "a double-edged sword."
Global Newsreported that in a Sunday email, the office of Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange, who belongs to the United Conservative Party (UCP), "said that if the federal government pursues a national pharmacare program, Alberta intends to opt out, and instead intends to obtain a full per capita share of the funding."
Blasting Alberta's UCP premier, Friends of Medicare executive director Chris Gallaway said Monday that "by preempting their decision on pharmacare even before the federal announcement is made, Danielle Smith's government has made it clear they would rather play politics than get things done to help Albertans. By doing so, they are siding with the profits of big pharmaceutical and insurance corporations over the health and well-being of Albertans."
"Canada currently pays some of the highest drug costs in the world, and millions are struggling to afford the medications that they need," Gallaway noted. "It is well documented that moving to a national, single-payer pharmacare plan would save governments, employers, Albertans, and our provincial healthcare systems billions of dollars per year. And most importantly it would save countless lives!"
"The fact is, Canada remains the only country with a universal Medicare program that does not include prescription medications," he added. "At a moment when so many Albertans are struggling with the cost of living, and access to the healthcare they need, it is outrageous to see our provincial government working to undermine this long-overdue expansion of our public healthcare coverage."
Alberta is not alone among Canada's 10 provinces and three territories. According toCTV, "Quebec has also said it intends to opt out, and British Columbia and New Brunswick said they're waiting for details before deciding whether to sign on."
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Council of Canadians Calls on Prime Minister to Invest in Public Infrastructure Projects, Not Privatization
Earlier in April, the federal government announced several changes to the leadership of the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB). Michael Sabia, the Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and former CEO of Caisse de depot et placements du Quebec (CDPQ), is now Chair of the Board.
Apr 14, 2020
Earlier in April, the federal government announced several changes to the leadership of the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB). Michael Sabia, the Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and former CEO of Caisse de depot et placements du Quebec (CDPQ), is now Chair of the Board.
The bank's leadership changes, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, signal a renewed orientation to privatization from the Canada Infrastructure Bank. Michael Sabia was involved in shaping the CIB's privatization agenda, as part of Finance Minister Bill Morneau's Advisory Council on Economic Growth, which advised on the formation and structure of the bank. Most recently, Sabia served as the CEO of CDPQ, which was the recipient of the first project that the CIB funded. Sabia was on the Advisory Council in the period that this deal was finalized.
The infrastructure deficit in Canada is significant and municipalities across the country have been calling for federal support for years. Addressing this gap presents an opportunity to revive the economy after COVID-19 through public investment in green projects like public transit, water and electricity, and support the transition to a low-carbon economy.
The federal Liberals promised to close the infrastructure gap in Canada through federal funding and low-cost borrowing and created the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB). However, instead of providing loans to chronically underfunded municipalities, provinces or Indigenous communities, the bank's mandate focuses on attracting private investors in critical infrastructure projects through public-private partnerships.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the damage of decades of gutted public services and privatization on our collective health and well-being," said Council of Canadians Chairperson John Cartwright. "The government must learn from these mistakes and embrace public investments that will help workers and our economy get back on track."
"Public-private partnerships are not the way forward," said Vi Bui, Campaigner with the Council of Canadians. "These models ultimately end up costing taxpayers more by offloading risks onto municipal or provincial governments, cutting workforce and raising user rates."
The CIB was established in 2017 with a $35 billion budget and a mandate to attract private investments to finance infrastructure projects. The bank has announced funding for nine projects, including public transit, regional rail, water, electricity and broadband. These projects include a loan from the CIB and involve private companies in the financing, construction and operation of major infrastructure projects.
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Canadians and Americans Unite: Governor Whitmer, Stay Strong Against Enbridge's Line 5
Jun 27, 2019
The Council of Canadians, Food & Water Watch, FLOW and Oil and Water Don't Mix welcome the lawsuits filed today by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel to block plans by Enbridge Inc to build a new tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac and shut down the existing 66-year-old pipelines. The Line 5 pipeline poses immediate and immense risk of catastrophic harm to the Great Lakes waters, coastal communities, businesses, and citizens, and must be shut down permanently.
The Attorney General's lawsuits are in response to legal action by Enbridge against State of Michigan. This Canadian company has shown that it will use every ounce of its political influence on both sides of the border to push through its dangerous oil tunnel.
Enbridge wants to do an end run around Michigan's constitution and environmental laws, which are meant to protect our waters, to guarantee that its oil tunnel is built. The Canadian government is bolstering Enbridge's efforts by arguing the refusal of this tunnel and shut down of Line 5 is another potential threat to exports of Alberta oil to the U.S.
"We need Michigan's Attorney General to defend our communities against Enbridge's tactics and urge Governor Whitmer to not be diverted from quickly moving forward with decommissioning Line 5," said Maude Barlow, Honorary Chairperson of the Council of Canadians. "In Canada, we call on the Canadian government to put the interests of the millions of people and economies that rely on the Great Lakes ahead of the interests of Big Oil corporations like Enbridge."
Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter also applauded the decision by Governor Gretchen Witmer to order the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to begin a review of the violations of the 1953 agreement under which the pipeline was built, which could be grounds for more legal action.
"We urge Governor Whitmer to stick to her campaign promise and immediately and permanently decommission the Line 5 pipeline," said Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch. "The only way to protect the people of Michigan from a Line 5 rupture in the Straits of Mackinac, and the irreversible damage it would cause, is to shut down the pipeline for good.
Approval of the Line 5 tunnel could also set a precedent that would open Great Lakes to more pipelines and tunnels. This is not in the public interest. A commons approach should be taken, supported by a public trust doctrine, which underpins in law the universal notion of the commons that certain natural resources, particularly air, water and the oceans, are central to our very existence and considered to be the property of the public. The trust resources must, therefore, be protected for the common good - not put at risk for corporate gain.
"Shutting down Line 5 is the only way Michigan can prevent an oil pipeline rupture," said David Holtz, spokesperson for Oil & Water Don't Mix. "The governor and attorney general have a responsibility to protect the Great Lakes and use their authority to immediately begin the process of decommissioning Line 5."
"We urge the Governor as public trustee to restore and apply the rule of law to Enbridge's oil pipeline operations in the Straits immediately. This means standing united with the Attorney General to revoke Enbridge's 1953 easement or demand the existing Line be authorized as required by law for occupancy of the public trust bottomlands of the Straits and Great Lakes. The ongoing risks of the old dual lines are an unacceptable risk of massive damage to Michigan's and Ontario's drinking water, economies, and way of life." said Jim Olson, President of FLOW.
Recent reports on the gravity of climate change advise that governments and citizens have a window of a decade to reduce consumption of fossil fuels. Governments must make a swift and immediate shift to clean, renewable energy and move away from disastrous, polluting fossil fuel infrastructure to protect our water, drinking water sources and people's health and safety.
We call for the immediate and permanent shut down of the Line 5 pipeline and for greater protection of the waters of the Great Lakes.
Background
The pipeline runs through both Canada and the United States in the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. The dual pipeline carries crude oil and natural gas between Superior, Wisconsin and Sarnia, Ontario.
Enbridge Energy would like to bore a tunnel through rock 100 feet below the lakebed to house new tunnel for a pipeline that would exist for 99 years. Enbridge Energy also wants to continue operating the existing Line 5 pipeline in the Great Lakes indefinitely until it gets its way with the tunnel.
There is a very real danger of a spill. Video footage shows that damage to Line 5 from an anchor strike last April was greater than Enbridge had previously revealed. The company has recklessly failed to maintain Line 5 while hiding its true condition from state authorities and the public, showing blatant disregard for public safety.
Enbridge was responsible for one of the largest oil spills in United States history when its Line 6B pipeline ruptured in 2010, spilling about a million gallons of heavy crude oil into the Kalamazoo River. The clean-up took years and cost over $1 billion. In 2016, Enbridge was fined $61 million for the spill. And that was just one of more than 1,000 Enbridge spills that dumped 7.4 million gallons of oil between 1999 and 2013. Enbridge's dangerous history in the Great Lakes raises the question of whether the Line 5 pipeline is too risky to operate.
A study conducted by Dr. Robert Richardson of Michigan State University estimated that a cleanup of a Line 5 pipeline rupture could cost as much as $6 billion USD.
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