Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in St. Stephen (Photo Credit: Jessi Hatt)
It was a warm reception for the Prime Minister from local seniors in Chocolate town.
Justin Trudeau, along with Federal Health Minister Ginette Petitpas-Taylor and South-west NB MP Karen Ludwig, spent Thursday afternoon at the Garcelon Civic Center speaking about the new federal budget and what it means for those in the senior’s group.
One of the most pressing topics was the upcoming national Pharmacare program.
“We know that it is not right that in a country like Canada, with the healthcare system we are rightly proud of, there are still people who have to face impossible choices between paying for their medications and paying for their groceries.”
He says there have been a lot of discussions over the years on how to best move forward with pharmacare, “That’s why we tasked Dr Eric Hoskins and an expert panel to look at the question of pharmacare and make recommendations to the government.”
Trudeau tells us one of the things most provinces are worried about are high-cost drugs for rare diseases.
“That is something that is a looming and increasing share of provincial budgets. That’s why the federal government said, ‘let’s start with that, let’s make sure the federal government moves forward’. We put forward a half billion dollars towards that, to be able to work with the provinces and take on that particular responsibility.”
Trudeau says there will be many more steps to take for the pharmacare program, but it is moving forward, and adds he will have more to say about it “probably on the election platform”.
