Thank you.
I'll add my welcome for seeing you here today, Minister, and thanks to the officials for being here.
My first question is along the same lines as some of my colleagues around the table, perhaps with a little different flavour.
I think Canadians—people in my jurisdiction in the Yukon, for example—have a large number of public employees covered by insurance plans, as well as by some of the larger private employers. They are very interested in the integrity of those programs continuing.
Also, it has been pointed out that in subclause 6(1), there is the authorization for the minister to enter into an agreement to make payments to the province or territory “to increase any existing public pharmacare coverage—and to provide universal, single-payer, first-dollar coverage” for the specific areas of contraception and diabetes.
Is there a vision, ultimately, of a universal single-payer system? A single-payer system is frequently used in advocacy and in various reports recommending that we ultimately move towards universally accessible pharmacare.
Maybe you can tell me about your vision for a single-payer system and how that is compatible with the existing system that many benefit from with third party coverage.