Health care advocates need to keep up the pressure on Mark Carney
Defenders of public health care need to be very wary of Prime Minister elect Mark Carney. Carney speaks the language of business and industry.
Upon becoming the Liberal Party Leader on March 9, Carney said, “In America, health care is a big business. In Canada, it’s a right.” He did not say it is universal and public. When he mentioned pharmacare and dental care he tagged it with “for those who need it.” That sounds just like a fill-in-the-gaps program, and not a universal program.
The most important point is that the main theme of his speech is austerity.
He doesn’t mention that Canada is the only developed nation with a universal health care system that does not have universal coverage for both dental care and prescription drugs.
Carney’s speech was very carefully parsed. Every word was weighed for impact. The qualifier he used, “for those who need it,” is exactly how opponents of pharmacare have worded their opposition. Carney appears to be reading directly from their playbook.
Buried in paragraph 9 of Carney’s victory speech is one short line referring to health care, without the words universal and public: “The Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country. Think about that for a moment. If they succeed, they will destroy our way of life. In America, healthcare is a big business. In Canada, it’s a right. America is a melting pot. Canada is a mosaic. America does not recognize differences. It does not recognize the First Nations. And there will never be rights to the French language. The joy of living, culture, and the French language are part of our identity. We must protect them; we must promote them. We will never, ever, trade them for any trade deal!”
Later in paragraph 15 of the speech, he channels industry:
“We know, as Liberals, that we cannot redistribute what we don’t have. We know that we cannot be strong abroad if we are weak at home, and we know that we cannot build a better future if we can’t manage the present. So, when we’re fighting for a strong economy, we’re fighting for: Good Canadian health care for everyone; strong support for our seniors, who built this country; childcare for young, hardworking families; dental care and pharmacare for everyone who needs it. We’re fighting for a strong economy, so we can create a more sustainable world for our children and grandchildren, and we will deliver.”
As Council of Canadians pharmacare campaigner Nikolas Barry-Shaw points out, Big Pharma’s key demand is that eligibility be restricted to “those who need it” and exclude those who have private plans.
Here’s the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, surely allies of the former banker Carney, showing its true colours on BC’s pharmacare deal: “National pharmacare isn’t necessary. Ottawa can work with provinces to fill the small gaps in drug coverage for a fraction of the cost, while maintaining the beneficial role played by private insurers. Not only would this improve access to medications, but it would also be more fiscally responsible.”
It’s clear that Big Pharma seems to have accepted pharmacare, but is plotting how the program can be modified.
Canadians want pharmacare – even Conservatives
A poll done for the Canadian Health Coalition by Environics last summer showed 63 per cent of those who identified as conservatives wanted pharmacare.
In spite of that Conservative leader Pierre Poilivre has said he opposes phamacare. “I will reject the radical plan for a ‘single-payer’ drug plan,” he said in the House of Commons during the debate on his motion intended to bring down the government and force an immediate election.
We know that Big Pharma and Big Insurance have bottomless pockets to lobby relentlessly. Here’s how one insurance industry spokesperson put it recently:
“the Benefits Alliance will continue meeting with policymakers to ensure the program’s impact on plan sponsors and private payers is understood, regardless of which political party is in power… No matter what the concept . . . there’s a need to help Canadians figure out how to negotiate a program that works for all. If there’s a shift in government, we don’t think it’s going to be necessarily shelved or pushed aside. We think there will be an opportunity for different governments to do different things.”
What Mark Carney’s platform says about health care
Carney believes that investments in the economy will ultimately lead to a stronger health care system. He envisions tackling health care costs through economic growth.
His platform says health care contributes to a robust economy and focuses on improving workforce mobility within Canada’s health care system: “A Mark Carney-led government will provide federal leadership and incentives to implement mutual recognition of health professional credentials to increase interprovincial mobility in our health care system. Streamlined credential recognition across provinces and territories will improve workforce flexibility, lower health care costs, and reduce regional shortages.”
In his Economic Pillars for Change, Carney says he will work with provinces and territories to “improve access to family doctors, lower wait times, and […] transparently assess the sustainability of these programs to ensure that future generations enjoy better services.” This leaves the reader no idea of how these goals will be achieved. The lack of a comprehensive outline of actionable steps leaves Canadians with more questions than answers.
The fight to defend health care, pharmacare and dental care continues. Even if the Liberals, and not the Conservatives, form government.
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Haylee Keyes is the National Director of Development and Community Engagement for the Canadian Health Coalition
