In part it does. Certainly you're mixing a treaty agreement with—there is nothing in the agreement that would take away any provincial right to set up a provincial pharmacare system. There is nothing in the agreement to preclude that.
Your point that there could be higher costs over time is a valid one, which the federal government has addressed through its willingness to provide compensation to the provinces, who are the payers.
I also think that some of the broader assessments of the rise in pharma costs haven't taken into consideration the provincial governments' cooperation and collaboration in recent years on buying in bulk. We haven't even seen the savings from the bulk purchasing, yet the modelling for costs are going from the old model before the provinces start saving money. My personal opinion is that the work the provinces have been doing will actually help mitigate some of the rises, but that's more of a statement than a question.
Thank you.