Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to address Bill C-213. As all members know, I firmly support national universal pharmacare and the government knows that pharmacare is the missing piece of universal health care in the country. Pharmacare must remain a priority for all members in the House.
Implementing national universal pharmacare is one of the government's top priorities, as reiterated in the September 2020 Speech from the Throne and in the 2020 fall economic statement.
No Canadian should have to choose between paying rent or paying for needed prescription drugs. Too many of my constituents, too many Canadians, are experiencing this every day. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed many unfortunate truths in the country and one of those truths is that too many Canadians are also a step away from this unfortunate reality.
While drug coverage is an area of provincial-territorial jurisdiction, the pandemic has reminded us that collaboration between governments is essential to support the health of Canadians. The federal government recognizes the important role that both orders of government must play to ensure all Canadians have the drug coverage they need. We understand that the federal government must support provinces and territories as they implement pharmacare so it will become an enduring element of our health system. This simply is not achieved by imposing federal legislation without consultation and without co-operation of our partners at the provincial and territorial level.
I firmly support national universal pharmacare and I will continue to work tirelessly with our government to move it forward. I will be opposing this private member's bill. The issue at the heart of the bill and the reason I will be opposing it is that it discounts the need for co-operation.
We know that in order to make national pharmacare a reality in Canada, we need to recognize the key role the provinces and territories play in providing health care for their citizens. The bill misses the mark and overlooks a wealth of experience built up about how to do that, not in Ottawa but in Dartmouth, Victoria, Quebec, Charlottetown and all across this amazing country.
Establishing universal pharmacare successfully requires a collective approach, a collaborative approach, where the federal government works with and through the provinces and territories. Unilateral federal action to impose national universal pharmacare as proposed under Bill C-213 would be akin to establishing public medicare for hospital and physician services without prior discussion with provincial and territorial governments and health system stakeholders. Such unilateral action would contradict commitments the Government of Canada has made over the past three decades to take a collective approach to social policy issues of a national concern.
The government must be careful not to disregard the vital role that provinces and territories currently play in designing and delivering public drug coverage in Canada. Over time, provinces and territories have developed more than 100 distinct public drug plans, typically designed to provide coverage for vulnerable groups, including seniors and people on social assistance. If we are going to transform a complex patchwork of drug coverage into a national pharmacare program, we must do it in collaboration with our partners, relying on the considerable expertise that jurisdictions have in this area.
Our government has been clear in its commitments to national pharmacare. Now is the time for governments to take action and make it a reality. Co-operation from provinces and territories will not just get pharmacare up and running; it will ensure it continues to operate smoothly well into the future.
In the 2020 Speech from the Throne and the fall economic statement, the government reiterated its intention to accelerate steps to implement national universal pharmacare, including a rare disease strategy to help Canadian families save money on high-cost drugs; establishing a national formulary and a Canadian drug agency to keep drug prices low; and, perhaps most important, working with those provinces and territories that are willing to move forward without delay. We all know that actions speak louder than words, which is why I am pleased to say that our government has already started taking these steps.
In November, the government initiated discussions with provinces and territories on the strategy for high-cost drugs for rare diseases. Earlier this month, the government began engaging with key partners and stakeholders, including patients and patient groups. As public engagement continues, our government will also consult with clinicians, academics, researchers, health technology assessment organizations, pharmaceutical manufacturers, private insurance providers and indigenous partners.
Budget 2019 also announced $35 million over four years to establish a transition office. This office is being created to provide dedicated capacity and leadership to advance work on pharmacare-related priorities.
We are committed to taking the appropriate next steps to implement national universal pharmacare. We are rolling up our sleeves and putting the resources in place to make it happen. First ministers have initiated a dialogue on health care funding, and that conversation will continue. In parallel, the Minister of Health will seek to establish a collaborative process with willing provinces and territories to define the broad terms of the pharmacare plan.
As I have said, our government fully supports national universal pharmacare and will continue to do the work needed to make sure this becomes a reality for all Canadians. Although we support the spirit of Bill C-213, we recognize that imposing this criteria on the provinces and territories without working with them would be premature and would not build national pharmacare as an enduring final piece of Canada's universal health care system.
People do not frame and put a roof on a house without building a strong foundation first. That is why we are moving forward with willing jurisdictions to build a collective commitment to national pharmacare, guided by the advisory council on the implementation of national pharmacare.
Turning our current patchwork of drug plans into a coherent, comprehensive approach that benefits all Canadians will be no small feat. As we move forward, we need a thoughtful conversation about how best to meet this challenge together. We must work with the provinces and territories, as I have said, to implement a national pharmacare plan that works well for our residents. We must work with first nations, Inuit and Métis governments and representative organizations to make sure national pharmacare is appropriate for their communities. We must work with patients and providers to make sure a national pharmacare plan gets Canadians the drugs they need.
I am looking forward to discussions with provincial and territorial counterparts. Together, we are making progress toward a pharmacare program that will meet the needs of all Canadians from coast to coast to coast.