We haven’t forgotten about Liberals’ pharmacare promise: CUPE

By Pat Van Horne, USW member of the CHC Board of Directors

Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) President Mark Hancock has asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to fix Canada’s health care and long-term care systems. CUPE National is a member of the Canadian Health Coalition.

In his December 16, 2021 letter to the prime minister, Hancock reminded Trudeau about the Liberals’ “longstanding promise to implement pharmacare” and said his members expect the government to commit to a single-payer, universal pharmacare system in the 2022 federal budget.

As well, the CUPE president says the federal government must commit to increasing core health care funding by a minimum of 5.2 per cent per year.

“CUPE also believes the federal government must address chronic understaffing and lack of beds, low wages and poor working conditions that run rampant in the long-term care sector, especially in the private, for-profit long-term care industry.”

CUPE is Canada’s largest union, with 700,000 members working in health care, emergency services, education, early learning and child care, municipalities, social services, libraries, utilities, transportation and more.

(Cover: Justin Trudeau during an election rally of the Liberal Party of Canada on October 4, 2015 in Brampton, Ontario. Photo: Shutterstock)