Thank you.
Dr. McLaughlin, in 2020 you co-authored a position statement for the Canadian Paediatric Society, entitled “Pharmacare in Canada: The Paediatric Perspective”. You included a recommendation that I'm going to quote: “Federal, provincial and territorial governments should develop and implement pharmacare plans that mandate universal, comprehensive, portable prescription drug coverage for children and youth.”
The health committee in 2017 and the Hoskins advisory committee appointed by Prime Minister Trudeau in 2019 both recommended exactly that, via a single-payer system. In other words, it was to expand the basket of covered services in our single-payer system to include essential prescription medicines.
Do you agree with that recommendation?