Finance committee  Based on what is happening at the community pharmacies where we see patients, we think it would be possible to target people who have insufficient drug insurance. That said, I accept your opinion that it would be possible to reduce certain costs. A universal program might be ver

Finance committee  That is correct. They have fewer choices in New Zealand. They have a smaller formulary.

Finance committee  Thank you very much for the question. We support universal pharmacare in Canada. There are too many Canadians who either don't have coverage or are under-covered. Universal pharmacare can be achieved in different ways. Quebec is probably the best model to suggest. They actuall

Finance committee  You also have to realize that patients use cannabis in many forms: there are oils, the dry product, as well as drugs approved by Health Canada. We think that medical cannabis should be maintained for those patients because they are not using it for the same reason as people who u

Finance committee  My position is as follows. We maintain that recreational cannabis and medical cannabis should be two completely separate cases. A patient who—

Finance committee  I am also having trouble hearing you. Our position is that, for patients who use medical cannabis and people who use recreational cannabis, these are two completely different avenues. Clearly, there will be no excise tax on products with a drug identification number, or DIN.

Finance committee  Our position is not that patients who use recreational cannabis should be exempt from an excise tax, but rather that patients with a medical prescription who obtain their cannabis in accordance with the regulations should not have to pay the tax.

Finance committee  The programs will vary province by province. There's an association called the Health Products Stewardship Association, and it operates in about half of the provinces. It helps fund some of these programs. Unfortunately, because health care is so disparate across the country, th

Finance committee  They're being returned to pharmacies annually.

Finance committee  There have been similar campaigns in the past. Most notably, there was a one-day medication return that was led by the pharmacists association and also by the police chiefs. We also found that a lot of Canadians keep their medications at home for long periods of time. People don'

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. I will give my presentation in English, but will be pleased to answer your questions in French and English. I'm here today on behalf of Canada's 42,000 pharmacists who work primarily in community pharmacies, but also in hospita