Our AMerican friends are debating whether Heal Care is a human right. Canadians decided that it was long ago. Which is why it is bizarre that, of all the countries with Universal Health Care, Canada is the only country that doesn’t have Universal Pharmacare? In 2014, Dr. Eric Hoskins ~ Ontario’s Liberal Minister of Health and Long-Term Care ~ wrote an OpEd for the Globe and Mail explaining Why…
Our American friends are debating whether Health Care is a human right, but Canadians decided that it was long ago. Which is why it is bizarre that, of all the countries with Universal Health Care, Canada is the only country that doesn’t have Universal Pharmacare!
In 2014, Dr. Eric Hoskins ~ Ontario’s Liberal Minister of Health and Long-Term Care ~ wrote an OpEd for the Globe and Mail explaining Why Canada needs a national pharmacare program
It has been estimated that Universal public drug coverage would:
A Mowat Centre study published by Lindsay Handren in in 2015 goes even further:
“Overall, it estimates a universal pharmacare plan would save up to $11.4 billion a year, with $1 billion of that saved just by no longer duplicating administrative costs in the current “patchwork” system.”
However, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal Liberal Government have more important things to worry about than the health of its citizens, so the Ontario Liberals Government has stepped up to the plate with an intention to add publicly funded pharmacare coverage for children and youth ~ adding to the patchwork system.
“Because Ontario is adding universal, comprehensive pharmacare coverage to the age group that uses medicines least often. Many working-age Ontarians, who are far more likely to require medicines than children, will still be uninsured.”
This Wednesday, June 28th, the new KW Chapter of the Council of Canadians is hosting a Pharmacare Town Hall Meeting from 7 – 9pm at First United Church in Waterloo (map). The Panel Discussion will include Dr. Sherilyn Houle (UW School of Pharmacy), Kitchener-Waterloo MPP Catherine Fife will be representing the NDP, and our own Stacey Danckert will represent the Greens. Kitchener Centre MP Raj Saini (a pharmacist before going into politics) was supposed to be there representing the Liberal Party but backed out.
With a provincial election in the offing, this should be a lively event. We hope to see you there!
Until July 13th you can sign Steve Morgan’s ePetition E-959 (HEALTH CARE SERVICES)
which calls upon the Government of Canada to:
1. Implement through a Federal law, a Pan-Canadian Universal Pharmacare Plan, in this 42nd Parliament; and2. Implement a National Formulary for medically necessary drugs including a drug monitoring agency providing regulations and oversight to protect Canadians.
For more information download the PDFs of the Pharmacare studies:
CMAJ: Estimated cost of universal public coverage of prescription drugs in Canada
Mowat Centre: Unfilled Prescriptions: the Drug Coverage Gap in Canada’s Health Care Systems
[largely reprinted from WRGreens “Pharmacare Town Hall Wednesday!“]
Pharmacare Town Hall Meeting WEDNESDAY!
June 28th, 2017
7:00 — 9:00pmFirst United Church
16 William Street West, Waterloo, ON N2L 1J3Panel Discussion featuring:
Raj Saini ~ Kitchener Centre MP (Liberal)
Catherine Fife ~ Kitchener — Waterloo MPP (NDP)
Stacey Danckert, Waterloo Region Greens
Dr. Sherilyn Houle (UW School of Pharmacy) will also be on the panel.
Previously I had heard Kitchener—Centre MPP Daiene Vernile was the scheduled Liberal representative. That makes a lot of sense in light of the recent provincial Liberal announcement about extending pharmacare to children and youth.
But when it was announced that Ms. Vernile was to be replaced by Kitchener Centre MP Raj Saini, the rookie federal Liberal MP campaigned hard on his background as a pharmacist. It made sense for the Federal MP , to bring his specialized expertise to this discussion.
But I’ve just learned Kitchener Centre MP Raj Saini has backed out. Is this an indication neither federal or provincial Liberal majoritie governments are actually committed to pharmacare?
Come out on Tuesday night to find out why Canada needs pharmacare policy and what the NDP and Greens would do with this issue given the chance.
Raj discussed his view of the different Proportional Representation systems possible, as well as clarifying the Liberal Party promise to have a new system chosen within 18 months of forming government. Raj told the audience his personal choice for Proportional Representation was Stephane Dion’s P3 system. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLB5b…
Raj Saini was elected MP for Kitchener Centre. And enough Canadians believed Liberal promises that the party didn’t just form government, it replaced the Conservative Government’s phony majority with its own phony majority based on only 39% of the vote. And yet Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reaffirmed his commitment to replacing our unfair First Past The Post system with one that will “make every vote count” in the throne speech.
The Electoral Reform process unfolded much as Raj said it would in this video. Although four of the five Waterloo Region Conservative MPs were replaced by four brand new Liberal MPs, as it happened none of them managed to host a town hall in which they could speak to Canadians “person to person.” Most of them promised to do their best to bring the ERRE Committee to Waterloo, but that never happened. What we got instead was a consolation prize visit from then Minister of Democratic Institutions Maryam Monsef, which all four Liberal MPs seem to have used as an excuse not to hold their own Electoral Reform Town Hall.
The promised All Party Committee sat through the summer, listening to the expert witnesses Raj had promised, an overwhelming majority of the testimony supported adopting Proportional Representation. When the ERRE Committee took their consultation on the road to talk to Canadians, there was little advance notice of the Committee’s itinerary. And still Canadians showed up. A preponderance of the Canadians who managed to show up also clearly supported adopting some form of Proportional Representation. At the 11th hour, Minister Monsef announced an online survey, but refused to take guidance from the ERRE Committee, instead spending a vast amount of money on a campaign widely ridiculed for it’s ambiguity from coast to coast to coast. In spite of the fact the Liberals never actually asked Canadians to choose a specific system we wanted, we made it clear we wanted a system on which MPs worked together across party lines for the good of Canada – a characteristic of Proportional Representation (something no winner take all system does).
When the ERRE Committee made it’s report, Canadians were startled to learn all the parties – except the Liberals – reached a consensus on Proportional Representation with a Gallagher index of 5 or less and a confirmation Referendum.
In spite of all that support for the Liberal Promise, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unilaterally decided to pull the plug on his election promise to make every vote count, the promise that 2015 would be the last unfair election did not go over well with a great many Canadians across the political spectrum.
But it is not too late to get the process on back on track.
Unfortunately for the citizens of Kitchener Centre, Mr. Saini has not supported Electoral Reform as he so clearly promised in this video. Although his constituents are calling and writing and visiting him about the electoral reform promise made by both the Liberal Party and himself he continues to maintain no one cares.
Yesterday his constituents held a “Reminding Liberals” rally outside a downtown Kitchener church where Raj and the other three Waterloo Region Liberals hosted a meet and greet for the Hon. Mélanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage.
http://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1069747
Canadians need fair representation. This issue is not going to fade away.
Whoa!Canada Proportional Representation 4 Canada series
Fair Vote Waterloo
Fair Vote Canada
This is the twenty-fourth article in the Whoa!Canada: Proportional Representation Series
On the 1st anniversary of the Liberal Majority, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggests Canadians have lost our “appetite” for electoral reform now that his party has won a majority government.
A majority built on 39% of the votes cast.
Just as Mr. Harper had a majority built on 39% of the votes cast.
Something unprecedented happened in the 42nd Canadian federal election of 2015. Every party — except the one in power — campaigned on electoral reform. This is something that would never happen without wide spread dissatisfaction with the electoral system we use now.
When most people feel they can’t vote for what they want, even if the person they vote for is elected, they don’t have the representation in Parliament they want. When the system fails to serve us, we don’t feel engaged in or satisfied by the process. When a majority of voters are routinely unrepresented, when some votes count more than others, but most votes don’t count at all, there is something wrong with an electoral system.
Even though we don’t understand the problem or know how to fix it, we know something isn’t working. So when Mr. Trudeau said, “We will make every vote count,” it resonated with Canadians.
The Liberal Party promise was itself an acknowledgement of the uncomfortable truth that every vote does not count in the voting system Canadians use now.
So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a lot of Canadians were less than pleased to read the ipolitics report: Trudeau taking heat for walking back electoral reform: Prime Minister tells Le Devoir Canadians’ motivation for change has weakened.
Our votes need to count as much today as they did last October.
Your vote should count. And so should mine. All of our voices deserve to be heard, but they won’t be until we have a fair electoral system. Canadians have been waiting for meaningful electoral reform for a hundred and fifty years. We can’t let them walk away from this election promise, this is our historic opportunity to create a stronger democracy and public policy that serves all Canadians.
Please phone or email your MP to let them know that we expect them to keep their election promise to make every vote count.
Here are the phone numbers and email addresses of our Waterloo Region Liberal MPs.
Bryan May – Cambridge
telephone: 519 624 7440
email: Bryan.May.P9@parl.gc.ca
Marwan Tabbara – Kitchener- South Hespeler
telephone: 519 571 5509
email: Marwan.Tabbara.P9@parl.gc.ca
Bardish Chagger – Waterloo
telephone: 519 746 1573
email: Bardish.Chagger.P9@parl.gc.ca
Raj Saini – Kitchener Centre
telephone: 519 741 2001
email: Raj.Saini.P9@parl.gc.ca
Read the article in Le Devoir
or the English Translation
If you aren’t in Waterloo Region, you should contact your Liberal MP too. And if you don’t know who your MP is, you can find out here by Postal Code. If you know who it is but need the contact info you can find it here by typing your MP’s name.
Image Credits:
Justin Trudeau by A.k.fung has been dedicated to the Public Domain, which made it possible for me to dedicate my mini-poster to the Public Domain as well.
• Proportional Representation for Canada
