CALGARY — Alberta and Saskatchewan’s health ministers say they haven’t been approached by Ottawa about signing onto the federal pharmacare program since the spring election.
Saskatchewan Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill told reporters after a meeting with his fellow provincial and territorial health officials in Calgary that he hasn’t discussed his province’s involvement in the program since former federal minister Mark Holland was in office.
“We haven’t been engaged by the new minister, Minister (Marjorie) Michel, on that yet,” Cockrill said Thursday.
Adriana LaGrange, Alberta’s minister of primary and preventative health services, says she too hasn’t been in touch about signing a deal, and noted the “vast majority” of funds set aside by Ottawa has been spent on the four deals it has signed.
“The federal government has not actually indicated that they want to have a further discussion with any of the other provinces on pharmacare,” LaGrange said.
“At least at this point in time.”
LaGrange said the program didn’t come up during Thursday’s meeting, and she only expects it to come up “as an aside” when the ministers meet with Michel on Friday.
British Columbia, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and the Yukon are the only jurisdictions that have signed onto the program, which in its first phase sees Ottawa fund coverage for contraceptives and diabetes medication.
Michel’s office, in a statement responding to the ministers’ comments, said the government “will always defend Canada’s universal health-care system, including protecting the Canadian Dental Care Plan and honouring existing pharmacare agreements.”
“We are following the results of these four existing agreements,” her office said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said last month that his government is committed to bringing the rest of the country on board as pharmacare and the government’s dental plan “make a huge difference to many people’s lives.”
Cockrill said Thursday that Saskatchewan is still open to discussing an agreement, but noted his government’s initial concerns about the flexibility of the funding still stand.
“I wasn’t satisfied that we were really there yet the last time we discussed it with the federal government,” he said.
“Any time that there are agreements between a provincial or a territorial body and the federal government … we want to make sure it’s equitable, we want to makes sure it is sustainable and it needs to be there for the long term to provide predictability.”
LaGrange, too, said she still had concerns about the sustainability of the program and others, such as the Aging with Dignity agreements that Ottawa renewed for every province until 2028.
She said she’s hoping Michel will address those concerns in Friday’s meeting.
“Common concerns (among health ministers) with the federal approach to health care include the introduction of programs that take a one size fits all approach,” LaGrange said.
“With a new federal government, we look forward to hearing how this approach will be changed to support the provincial and territorial health systems to deliver high-quality care in the right place by the right provider for their residents.”
