—of provincial and territorial governments, health service providers, private payers (employers and unions), and consumers—to address the fact that drugs have become an essential component of health care. We will develop with these groups a timetable and fiscal framework for the implementation of universal public coverage for medically necessary prescription drugs.
Minister, I'm reading to you from the Liberal platform in 1997, promised by Jean Chrétien. We've heard the PBO report. It's already been shown that we can cover every Canadian and save $4 billion a year.
I introduced a motion in the House of Commons asking your government to start discussions with the provinces in the next 12 months, and you called that proposal “premature”.
Minister, can you explain to me, after 20 years of promising national pharmacare, what you are waiting for?