Pharmacare bill passes key test ahead of next week's final Senate vote

The government's pharmacare legislation has survived a key step on the way to becoming law and could pass the Senate next week.

Bill C-64, a framework for the implementation of national pharmacare, passed through the Senate's social affairs, science and technology committee without amendments on Thursday. It now proceeds to a final vote on the floor of the Senate.

The bill, which was a condition of the now-defunct supply and confidence deal between the NDP and Liberals, is set for a third reading Senate vote on October 10.

Had the bill been amended in committee, it would have been sent back to the House of Commons in a fractious and unstable minority Parliament.

If the legislation is passed, the pharmacare plan will cover some diabetes treatments and contraception in provinces that enter into agreements with the federal government.

Last month, British Columbia became the first province to sign a pharmacare agreement with the federal government.

NDP House leader and health critic Peter Julian was present for the Senate committee's clause-by-clause approval of the bill.

"It's not important how I'm feeling," said Julian. "It's about how Canadians are feeling, especially Canadians with diabetes… What they are feeling is a sense of hope."

Bill C-64 is being billed by the federal government as the first step in a broader pharmacare regime in the years ahead. Canadians are set to go to the polls within the next year and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has come out against the proposed single-payer plan, arguing it would force Canadians to give up their own private drug plans.

In February, federal officials told reporters in a background briefing that the government does not know how much this first phase of the pharmacare program will cost, and the final price will be determined only after negotiations with the provinces and territories.

When pressed, Health Minister Mark Holland estimated the cost at $1.5 billion.

During a Sept. 18 hearing of the Senate committee, Holland said he was "ambivalent" about how pharmacare would be administered. He later clarified his position by calling for universal, single-payer coverage in a letter to committee chair Sen. Ratna Omidvar on Sept. 27.

"This standard of coverage means that all residents of a participating province or territory will be eligible to receive free access, without co-pay or deductible, to a range of contraception and diabetes medications. Under this program, the cost of these medications will be paid for and administered through the public plan, rather than through a mix of public and private payers," Holland said in the letter.

During Thursday's committee meeting, Sen. Flordeliz Osler sought to add the words "publicly administered" to the legislation in an amendment. She said she wanted to shield the pharmacare framework from efforts by future governments to change the way the program is funded.

"The intent of this amendment is not to delay, but it is to codify into legislation the minister's intent," she said.

Her amendment was defeated by other senators.

"The timing of this is vitally important, because as we know, there is no longer a supply and confidence agreement," said Sen. Kim Pate of the Independent Senators Group.

"More importantly, the government has been very clear, as evidenced by the letter from the minister, that whatever ambiguity may have existed following his testimony, he has been crystal clear in the letter since then."