Poilievre won't commit to keeping new social programs like pharmacare
CBC
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre delivered a fiery speech Thursday that depicted the government's latest budget as a threat to the country's future, and suggested a number of new social programs will get a second look if he leads the next government.
He also claimed Ottawa's push into pharmacare could dismantle private drug insurance and leave Canadians with inferior coverage and higher taxes to pay for it all.
Health Minister Mark Holland, meanwhile, accused the Conservative leader of trying to whip up fear by raising "fake boogeyman" to distract from a program that makes contraceptives and diabetes treatments more affordable for everyone.
While he attacks the Liberals' spending plan, Poilievre is under pressure to explain what he'd cut to fulfil his stated promise to "fix the budget" if he's elected.
In an interview with Radio-Canada, Poilievre was noncommittal on whether child care, dental care and pharmacare would be dismantled by a government led by him — but he raised questions about the programs' effectiveness.
Poilievre said many Canadians already have access to drug coverage through workplace plans that may offer better benefits than those the NDP-backed Liberal plan eventually could offer.
A 2022 Conference Board of Canada report found that about 24.6 million Canadians are already enrolled in private drug plans.
Millions more people — mostly low-income earners, children and seniors — have access to provincial programs.
Speaking to CityNews on Thursday, Poilievre claimed the pharmacare bill would "ban" private plans "and require you move over to a federal government plan."
"That will make you worse off at higher cost to Canadian taxpayers," he said.
There's no such ban in the pharmacare legislation.
While it's promising to expand the program at some point, the government is only offering to cover contraceptives and some diabetes treatments in provinces and territories that sign agreements with Ottawa.
The government says it will strike a committee of experts to advise it on how to eventually establish a universal, single-payer program.
If a single-payer system for drugs is ever implemented, it would call into question the future of private plans — but that's not what Ottawa is doing with Bill C-64, the Pharmacare Act.
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