Madam Speaker, the evidence is overwhelming and has been for a long time. We are the only country with a universal health care system that does not include necessary prescription drugs. We know from various reports, including one a few years back, Pharmacare 2020, that Canadians who cannot afford to fill a prescription end up costing our health care system more because something that was a manageable chronic disease suddenly becomes a catastrophic event where, instead of just getting their prescription filled, they end up in emergency and intensive care.
We know that pharmacare is affordable, but we cannot afford to ignore the need to bring it into place right away, as quickly as possible. It will save our economy money. That is the conclusion of all of the experts. Failure to provide pharmacare causes unnecessary illness and death.