Health Minister Mark Holland says he has 鈥渆very confidence鈥� his government can deliver pharmacare legislation by the promised March 1 deadline, and that the Liberals are 鈥渘ot pulling the fire alarm鈥� on their confidence-and-supply deal with the NDP over the issue.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said this week if the Liberals don鈥檛 table a sufficient piece of pharmacare framework legislation by next month, and signalled he鈥檒l consider a missed deadline to mean they鈥檝e 鈥渨alked away鈥� from their confidence-and-supply agreement.
The pact sees the NDP prop up the Liberals until 2025 in exchange for progress on key priorities, including pharmacare, for which the parties have already extended the deadline once before.
Despite Singh鈥檚 statements, Holland told CTV鈥檚 Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, in an interview airing Sunday, that he will meet the deadline.
鈥淚 have every confidence it will be (tabled on time),鈥� Holland said. 鈥淚 appreciate negotiations aren't easy, and some of that spills out publicly. But (NDP health critic) Don Davies has been a great partner to work with, we've had a lot of back and forth.鈥�
鈥淪o I'm confident that we'll be able to find a solution and that we'll have legislation tabled before that deadline,鈥� he added.
While Holland insists the federal government can deliver on its pharmacare deadline promise, he wouldn鈥檛 give specifics about the contents of the plan.
This week, when asked for a status update on the talks and the overarching economic restraints on the government given the estimated multibillion-dollar price tag on a universal drug program, Holland acknowledged the federal government "can鈥檛 afford this to be a massively expensive program."
The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) estimates the total spending on prescription drugs under a single-payer universal drug plan would be $33.2 billion in 2024-25, rising to $38.9 billion in 2027-28, according to .
鈥淲e can't do everything at once, I think is a fair thing to say,鈥� he told Kapelos.
When pressed on whether the framework legislation will pave the way for a single-payer system 鈥� and whether he personally believes it should 鈥� Holland wouldn鈥檛 say, but added he鈥檚 not 鈥渋deologically bound to any one option.鈥�
鈥淚 think the end state has to be that every person, everywhere in the country, is covered, and is able to afford their drugs,鈥� he said.
Liberals not 鈥榩ulling that fire alarm鈥� on NDP deal
And when asked whether the confidence-and-supply agreement continues to serve the government 鈥� despite hard lines being drawn and warnings from the NDP about their deal breakers 鈥� Holland said it 鈥渁bsolutely鈥� does.
鈥淚t's a great starting point,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t doesn't mean that we work with the New Democrats on everything, sometimes we work with other parties, but it creates predictability.鈥�
Holland also said he won鈥檛 speculate publicly about the future of the deal.
鈥淚t's not how I operate,鈥� Holland said, pointing to his time as government house leader, when he was asked frequently whether one issue or another could be the one to fatally damage the agreement. 鈥淎nd I never speculated. I just don't think it's useful.鈥�
鈥淏ut I don't think Canadians want us pulling that fire alarm,鈥� he added.
While Holland insists the pact with the NDP still has its advantages, some panelists on CTV鈥檚 Question Period鈥檚 weekly strategy segment said now might be an .
Holland in his interview also discussed the recently signed $3.1-billion health-care deal with Ontario, which both the federal and provincial governments say will increase access to primary care and reduce wait times.
With files from CTVNews.ca鈥檚 Senior Digital Parliamentary Reporter Rachel Aiello
