Health minister calls on NDP to give Liberals more time to sign pharmacare deals

OTTAWA — Health Minister Mark Holland is calling on the federal NDP to give the Liberal government more time in power to sign bilateral deals on pharmacare.

“I would put it back to (NDP Leader) Jagmeet Singh … why are you in such a rush for an election? If pharmacare is the priority that you say it is, then why don’t you wait until October so that we can get the business of the nation done?” Holland told a news conference in Halifax, where he met with his provincial and territorial counterparts this week.

Pharmacare and the national dental-care program were key parts of the supply-and-confidence deal that saw the NDP keep the minority Liberals in power for more than two years.

The New Democrats pushed particularly hard for the pharmacare legislation to be passed, something Holland said was “incredibly difficult” to do. The bill was introduced last February and became law in October after months of debate in the House of Commons and the Senate.

Earlier on Thursday, Singh reiterated that New Democrats will vote to bring down the minority Liberal government.

“I want to be really clear. We are still going to be voting against the government at the end of March,” Singh said at a press conference in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., where he called on the government to bring Parliament back to pass emergency measures to alleviate the impact of U.S. tariffs.

Parliament is set to resume on March 24, after the Liberals select their next leader on March 9.

The fixed-election date is in October but opposition parties have pledged to vote non-confidence in the Liberals before then, putting Canadians on a likely path to a spring election.

Holland has been working to sign bilateral deals with provinces and territories that would see the federal government cover the cost of birth control and diabetes medications.

He said he expects more deals to be signed “very, very soon” but warned the process takes time. Bilateral deals, he said, “are done through finding common ground, are done through respecting provincial jurisdiction, and they’re done through working through the complicated issues of actually making a deal work.”

In a statement issued in response to Holland, NDP health critic Peter Julian accused the Liberals of being cynical.

“This is another Liberal ploy to buy time at the expense of Canadians. They are willing to withhold birth control and insulin to buy more time for their new leader,” Julian said.

B.C. has signed a memorandum of understanding with the federal government, but not a final agreement.

Manitoba already covers the cost of contraceptives and New Brunswick has promised to do the same. Coverage of diabetes medications remains a patchwork across the country.

Eric Hoskins, the former Ontario health minister who chaired a national advisory council on pharmacare, said there is “a very small window of time” for the provinces to get deals signed. He called the deals “a gift from Ottawa.”

“There’s really no downside (for the provinces and territories). There’s massive upside in terms of access to medicines for their citizens,” he said.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said he rejects the government’s “radical plan” for pharmacare and the NDP and Liberals are warning he would kill the program if elected.

“It’s unlikely the Conservatives would continue to pursue this, and so, in absence of a federal partner who’s willing to negotiate contracts with provinces and territories?” Hoskins said. “If that doesn’t exist, the funds won’t flow.”

— With files from Lyndsay Armstrong in Halifax

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2025.

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press