Madam Speaker, medically necessary prescription medicines are a vital element of Canada's health care system. They have increased in relative importance compared to other health care sectors. Look at what we can accomplish today with drugs that before had to be dealt with through surgery or worse yet, had no treatment available. I am thinking here of the advances we have made in substantially reducing the need for ulcer surgery and the advances we have made in treating mental illness.
It is time for us to start talking about how we are going to ensure that Canadians will have access to health care. We are now just beginning this dialogue.
The federal government does not have a ready made national pharmacare program cooked up in Ottawa's back rooms. The Canadian health care system is a partnership and the federal government will be exploring a national approach to pharmacare in true collaboration with the provinces and territories. A new federal-provincial-territorial working group is beginning a process. Stakeholders must also be involved in the dialogue.
As part of the new health transition fund, $150 million over three years was announced in the last budget, the Minister of Health will be co-hosting a national conference on pharmacare with the Minister of Health for Saskatchewan. This will be an important step in our discussions on a national approach to pharmacare.
The development of a national approach to pharmacare will be collaborative. It will not happen overnight. It will not be done by the federal government alone. It is must be done—