Carney won’t expand pharmacare without the NDP

The last time he was asked about expanding pharmacare, Mark Carney refused to commit to expanding it:

Question: “I haven’t heard you mention pharmacare. And I know your party was kind of leveraged into this by the NDP. Are you committed, if you form government, to expanding that above and beyond birth control and diabetes medications to people who don’t have employer plans or provincial plans?”

Carney: “Committed absolutely to keeping what is in place. I think those broader judgments will take place in the... if there were to be an expansion, it's in the context of decisions around a range of... a range of priorities.” (Video)

Jagmeet Singh and the NDP secured pharmacare expansion in the last parliament.

But Mark Carney’s priorities put future deals at risk. We know he is promising to:

• Spend less: “One of the core elements of our strategy is to spend less as a federal government” (Video)
• Balance the operating budget, which funds health transfers to the provinces.
• Cancel the capital gains tax increase, a decision that only helps the wealthiest 0.13% of Canadians and will cost the treasury $17.4 billionover five years.

Mark Carney’s promise to cut spending will put the pharmacare program and core health services at risk. Only New Democrats will fight to secure pharmacare.