It's something that folks in Alberta know well. We saw that through the pandemic across the country, with people losing their benefits. We have the boom-and-bust cycle of oil and gas here, where people have employment and then they don't. That's happened many times in my lifetime and in Alberta's history. If people's medicine and the drugs they need to stay alive—their health—are tied to their jobs, we don't think that's fair and okay. As part of health care, they should have access to them when they need them and where they need them.
We're this strange country where we have this universal health care system that doesn't include drugs outside of the hospital. It's costing us a lot. People end up back in the hospital. It really shouldn't be tied to the idea that you have a job for right now. You retire and suddenly your benefits change, or the provincial government changes the drug benefit plan for seniors. Whatever it might be, people shouldn't be at the whim of employment, different drug plans or different programs. There should be one system whereby everything is covered and people know that they can get what they need when they need it, no matter where they live in the country.