NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh acknowledged for the first time Friday that the New Democratic Party is seeking federal funding for contraceptives.
The NDP leader was in British Columbia, where the NDP government already funds birth control and other contraceptive methods through a single-payer model.
The Manitoba NDP, which recently formed a government in Manitoba, ran a campaign to hide contraception. The Ontario Progressive Conservative government showed enthusiasm to do the same.
The federal NDP is negotiating with the federal government to implement a national pharmacare program. Health care is under the jurisdiction of states and territories, so giving states and territories choice would be key to such a program.
“If we can do it in B.C., we can do it across the country,” Singh said. “This could be a step towards showing that we can indeed achieve universal health coverage.”
Singh said the New Democratic Party is pushing for contraceptives to be included in drug policy talks with the Liberal Party.
“We’re very close to a final opinion, and once we submit a final opinion on this, that’s it,” Singh told reporters Friday in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia.
Singh said the party is seeking coverage for prescription contraceptives, intrauterine devices and emergency contraceptives.
“This ensures that we not only say that people have the right to do whatever they want with their bodies, but that we back it up with concrete steps to break down barriers that prevent access to contraception. “It’s a thing,” he said.
Singh also said contraceptive coverage was “prudent” given the reluctance of some in the government to sacrifice full implementation of single-payer pharmacare. He said it would be the first step.
In 2019, a federal advisory committee led by former Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins found that if universal, single-payer public pharmacy care started by covering essential medicines, the federal government would receive $3.5 billion a year. Estimated to cost $. The report found that fully implementing comprehensive coverage would cost $15.3 billion.
Singh’s press conference Friday confirmed reports previously attributed to anonymous sources within the NDP and government.
People with direct knowledge of the talks, who were not authorized to speak publicly, told CBC that the government is considering covering not only contraceptives but also diabetes drugs.
Talks between the two parties are ongoing, but the language of the proposed pharmacare bill has not yet been finalized.
Introducing the Pharmacare Bill was a condition the NDP set when it joined the federal Liberals in the Supply and Confidence Agreement in 2022.
The deal would see the New Democratic Party support a minority government with key votes in the House of Commons to block early elections in exchange for moves on NDP policy priorities.
Singh warns Liberals not to ‘break the deal’
The agreement is scheduled to last until 2025, but the shape of the Pharmacare Act is a point of contention between the two parties.
The original fiduciary supply agreement stipulated that the bill needed to be submitted by the end of 2023, but that deadline was extended to March this year as the parties tried to finalize the details.
Mr Singh reiterated on Friday that if the Liberals fail to meet the new deadline, the deal will be considered broken. He added that this does not mean the Liberal government will collapse immediately.
“So we said very clearly that if the Liberals break the deal, the deal will be broken,” Singh said. “They would have broken their promise. Then we will leave.”
This is not the first time Singh has threatened to pull out of the deal if the Liberals do not meet expectations. The agreement also called for dental programs for low- and middle-income Canadians. When negotiations over dental treatment stalled, Mr. Singh once threatened to cut off support.
