Mr. Speaker, this gives me a chance to correct the record and to agree with my hon. colleague, the leader of the Green Party. Yes, the Green Party is a staunch advocate for public pharmacare. I want to thank her and her party for that principled position.
Pharmacare is not just a moral imperative. We New Democrats believe that every Canadian should be able to get the medicine they need when they need it, regardless of the size of their bank account. This is simply an extension of the fundamental principle of our medicare system, and it is also economically smart. Study after study, seven of them in a row, has found that if we bring in universal public pharmacare in this country, we will save anywhere from $4 billion to $14 billion a year and cover every single Canadian.
It is not just me saying that. It is what the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health found. It is what the Senate committee has found. It is what the committee that was struck by the government and Dr. Eric Hoskins found. Dr. Hoskins is the former Liberal health minister of Ontario. The committee found that by making sure every Canadian has their medication, we would keep Canadians healthier and save money. It has been estimated that it would save $500 to $600 per person per year. If someone has a catastrophic illness, it would be far more than that.
Apparently only the New Democrat and Green members of the House are people who would take the wealth of this country and build our Canadian health care system, expanding it so Canadians would get coverage not only for hospital and physician care but also for mental health care, eye care, ear care, pharmacare and dental care. We are going to keep fighting for that.
However, the Liberals have done us a favour, through their fall budget and the spring economic update, by showing Canadians what they really believe in. When the Liberals do not have a minority government and other parliamentarians forcing them to do progressive things, they show us who they really are, and the government is showing us what it is. It is a right-wing, conservative government that does not believe in things like public health care.