Cabinet reneged on a 2022 agreement they had made with New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh to pass pharmacare.According to Blacklock’s Reporter, ministers on Tuesday said that a written promise to pass pharmacare legislation by December 31 would not be kept.In a Notice of Ways and Means Motion, the cabinet left out any mention of pharmacare. Only thirteen days are left on the House calendar before Parliament takes a break for Christmas.Liberals, in a 2022 Supply and Confidence Agreement, promised New Democrats that in exchange for maintaining cabinet in power for three years, they would be “passing a Canada Pharmacare Act by the end of 2023.” On Tuesday, Government House Leader Karina Gould told reporters that the commitment would not be fulfilled.“When are we going to see the pharmacare legislation tabled and passed?” asked a reporter. “We are working with the NDP on this,” replied Gould.“It’s impossible at this point, right?” asked a reporter. “Well, yes, I don’t think we’re going to get it passed by the end of this year,” replied Gould.Health Minister Mark Holland agreed no pharmacare bill will pass next month. Cabinet could not “be locked in by the rigidity of those words,” he said.“Can you table this bill by the end of the year?” asked a reporter. “It is difficult for me to speculate on that,” replied Holland. “You just take it one day at a time.”“Haven’t you violated the deal?” asked a reporter. “The spirit of that agreement was that we would find agreement on these things,” replied Holland.“The idea was to find common ground, to find a way for Parliament to be stable and function. The Supply and Confidence Agreement always had built into it room to disagree and an acknowledgment that we are two different parties.”New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh on January 19 said he expected the cabinet to follow the Supply and Confidence Agreement. “It has to be passed by the end of this year,” he said.“Is it a deal breaker?” asked a reporter. “It’s part of our agreement, so if they didn’t do that, they would be breaking the deal,” replied Singh.On November 22, Singh was less clear about whether he thought the cabinet not keeping its promises was enough to break the agreement.“Those negotiations are continuing and we remain optimistic,” Singh said last week. “We remain also very firm in our commitment to something that is universal.”“What is the status of the actual bill?” asked a reporter. “We sent it back,” replied Singh. “It has to be better and now we’re in negotiations to have that better language.”
