Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.
I mentioned earlier that this is a historic moment and a historic hearing, and I cited a number of important organizations.
I want to give a shout-out to Canadian Labour Congress president Bea Bruske. They submitted a memo to this committee saying, “The [Canadian Labour Congress] calls for the speedy passage of Bill C-64, an act respecting pharmacare, before the House of Commons and the Senate adjourn for the summer, so that millions of Canadians can access contraception and diabetes drug and device coverage, giving them some relief from the high cost of living.” I would note that Elizabeth Kwan from the CLC is here in the room today.
I also want to give a shout-out to the Canadian Health Coalition and thank Mr. Staples for being here.
Mr. Staples, we've heard from one party in the House of Commons—the Conservatives—and a number of lobbyists that the system we have in pharmacare now works well in Canada. You deal with frontline workers, such as nurses. Is it true that everything is fine when it comes to access to medication?
My second question to you is about the issue of a pharmacare program. Is it true that a pharmacare program will help save health care dollars?