Thank you, Chair.
As mentioned, my name is Linda Silas and I'm the president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions. As a nurse, I don't have to do what Angelique did and explain what we do. CFNU is the largest nursing organization in Canada. We represent over 250,000 unionized nurses and nursing students working everywhere, including in home care, long-term care, community care and acute care.
I'm so honoured to finally speak to you today on a bill that has been considered a leading priority for nurses for many years. It is a step towards a universal pharmacare program. CFNU has commissioned numerous studies and polls over the years to help build the case for the overwhelming merits of a public, single-payer pharmacare program in the country. You will be hearing from Dr. Marc-André Gagnon later on today, who was the author of one of our first reports.
There are many reasons why nurses support a public, single-payer pharmacare program: the positive health outcomes it would bring to our patients, the equitable access it would provide everyone in Canada, and the capacity it would free up in our health care system through avoidable hospital room visits and costs related to non-adherence to prescription drugs.
The latter point is the critical point I want to talk about today: the health human resources crisis. Each quarter, we witness the number of nursing vacancies rise to record heights across the country. Sadly, nurses are still working in our crippling system. We see patients unable to access their medications. They really should be at home, but they need to stay in our waiting rooms and hospital beds just to take their medications.
Members of Parliament, you have the power to change this today. We are thrilled to see Bill C-64 move ahead in the direction Canada's nurses have long advocated for. It is in sync with the recommendation of every major government study and commission on the matter, including the advisory council on the implementation of national pharmacare of 2019.
Ensuring universal access to contraceptives and diabetic medication and supply through a single-payer public system is a hugely significant improvement to our universal public health care system. It marks a fundamental step towards a truly comprehensive and universal national pharmacare program. Every day, nurses see first-hand the consequences of failing to provide equitable coverage for birth control and diabetic medication to our patients, from unwanted pregnancies to individuals who lack access to diabetic medications and supplies. They end up in our hospitals. This includes children and working Canadians. Patients divide their pills or go without them to buy food. This has to stop.
Canada's nurses have been lobbying parliamentarians like you for 30-plus years to move toward a universal national pharmacare program. Yes, it has to be single-payer and public, because that's what the evidence says is the best way to be fiscally responsible with our public dollars. That's what Canadians expect of us—to not have our health care services stop at a visit to the doctor or nurse practitioner.
Sadly, we are seeing many voices out there in support of the status quo. They say that Canadians are adequately covered by the patchwork system in place, and that a fill-in-the-gaps approach is the best way.
Nurses are motivated by the great care we can provide in this country. We say the best way to do that is through a universal public approach to prescription drugs. We urge you to follow 20 to 30 years of evidence, push ahead the passing of this bill and continue on the path of implementing a comprehensive, universal, national and public single-payer pharmacare program.
I stand proudly with all of you who will vote yes on Bill C-64.
Thank you.