July 18, 2018 (ST. ANDREWS, NB) – Canada’s provincial and territorial premiers will join nurses’ union leaders from across the country on the morning of July 20 for a national pharmacare roundtable. Host Premier Brian Gallant will welcome his counterparts to the event, which will feature Dr. Eric Hoskins, Chair of the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare, and Kevin Page, former Parliamentary Budget Officer, among others.
“As the pharmacare Advisory Council begins national consultations, an important conversation is beginning that will shape the model of pharmacare coverage that will be built for Canadians,” said Linda Silas, President of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions. “Nurses believe that premiers of all political stripes have strong reasons to support a public, universal, single-payer pharmacare plan with a national formulary.”
Organized by the CFNU, the roundtable will provide leaders of Canada’s provinces and key health and labour stakeholders with the opportunity to discuss health-related federal and fiscal issues related to the implementation of a national pharmacare plan. The event is taking place in conjunction with the annual Council of the Federation premiers’ summit in St. Andrews by-the-Sea, New Brunswick.
The event is closed, but CFNU President Linda Silas is available to speak to the media prior to and following the event.
Leaders of the following provincial nurses’ unions will also be present: New Brunswick Nurses Union, Registered Nurses’ Union Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union, Prince Edward Island Nurses’ Union, Ontario Nurses’ Association, Manitoba Nurses Union, Saskatchewan Union of Nurses and United Nurses of Alberta.
A national drug plan is expected to result in savings of between $4 and $11 billion per year, while ensuring access to millions of Canadians who struggle to afford the cost of prescription medications.
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The CFNU is Canada’s largest nurses’ organization, representing nearly 200,000 nurses and student nurses, and advocating on key health priorities and federal engagement in the future of public health care.
For further information:
Lauren Snowball, CFNU Communications, 613-868-5702, media (at) nursesunions.ca
Leanne Lagsiar, NBNU Communications, 506-461-4007, LLagsiar (at) nbnu.ca
Download: “Canada’s Nurses: Our Vision for National Pharmacare”