Yes. Certainly there will be a benefit to indigenous people. That's without a doubt.
To comment on your first question, we need to also ensure that we are making wholistic—with a “w”, for the note-takers—decisions around public policy that affects our health and doesn't look at just the pharmaceuticals and all those things. I know that we're here specifically for the pharmaceuticals, but there are so many other things that impact health, such as socio-economics and social determinants of health. I think this is the first step in the right direction for opening up the conversation and the dialogue to all those other sectors that this bill obviously does not cover.
Of course, indigenous people, if unfortunately their medication cannot be covered—and most likely they cannot afford to even take the medication—may not even get the prescription filled, as we know. I think that would be interesting data to look at. They will also make sure they feed their family first, or do whatever they might need to do first, before taking care of their own health. Often we're faced with that decision every day, that hard decision.
My chair often speaks very openly about the ideal type of diabetes treatment for her as a person living with type 2 diabetes in Alberta. It is currently not available to her because of the lack of coverage, and it simply would be way too expensive for her and her family of six children to afford. Therefore, it is just not an option. She has to look at other alternatives.