NDP members push to pressure feds on pharmacare plan on first day of convention in Hamilton
On day one of the NDP鈥檚 three-day policy convention in Hamilton, Ont. there was discussion among party members to put pressure on the federal government to follow through on its commitment to move ahead with a national pharmacare plan.
With the deadline for the federal government to pass pharmacare legislation set for the end of the year, a policy calling for the federal government to reestablish and maintain a Crown Corporation to manufacture vaccines, pharmaceuticals and medical devices in Canada is on the convention agenda.
A key part of the NDP鈥檚 supply-and-confidence agreement propping up the Liberal minority government requires, 鈥減assing a Canada pharmacare act by the end of 2023.鈥
鈥淚've said it publicly, and I'll say it again, it's a red line for us. We have to have public pharmacare,鈥 said NDP MP and health critic Don Davies, who says they鈥檙e specifically calling for 鈥渟ingle-payer pharmacare.鈥
鈥淲e want all pharmaceuticals to be delivered to our public medical system, because it's the cheapest, fairest and most efficient way to do it.鈥
Some delegates told 愛污传媒 they would support a move to end the confidence-and-suply agreement if the Liberal government doesn鈥檛 follow through on its promise. Davies said he doesn鈥檛 believe they鈥檙e at that point yet, but other members agree.
鈥淎s long as our negotiators report that they are meeting the parameters in the spirit of our deal, the deal remains,鈥 said NDP MP for Hamilton-Centre Matthew Green.
He believes further negotiations on the bill could be enough, and thinks the NDP has the upper hand.
鈥淲e absolutely have leverage because we're the ones who crafted the deal. We have the people who are, you know, some of the most knowledgeable people on the file that have been fighting for this.鈥
Specific resolutions on pharmacare are on Sunday鈥檚 agenda to be discussed as part of a larger health-care policy block.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR TO BE DISCUSSED DURING EMERGENCY RESOLUTIONS SATURDAY
Heading into the NDP policy convention, there was much discussion about whether the war between Israel and Hamas would be addressed and how much it could drive conversation around policy.
Emergency resolutions were initially scheduled to be discussed Friday afternoon, but had to be pushed to Saturday due to the volume of proposed resolutions on the situation in the middle east, said Jennifer Howard, chief of staff to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh鈥檚.
The party has now confirmed resolutions on the Israel-Hamas war will be part of emergency resolutions discussed Saturday.
鈥淚 think we're probably going to have a lot of really difficult conversations,鈥 said Edmonton NDP MP and foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson.
鈥淚 certainly hope New Democrats recognize the humanity of the situation and recognize how terrible it is to have civilians be targeted, to have this violence happening, and to make sure that as one voice we鈥檙e standing up for Palestinians and Israelis.
McPherson said the party should condemn the 鈥渉orrific terrorist actions of Hamas鈥, but also said they have an obligation to make sure that the Israeli government is not 鈥減erpetrating war crimes and hurting civilians in Gaza.鈥
鈥淲e have an obligation to call out those things as well,鈥 she said.
One emergency resolution set to be discussed Saturday calls on Canada to take a number of actions including; demand a ceasefire and life-saving humanitarian assistance for Gaza, advocate for the release of hostages, and condemn acts of antisemitism and anti-Palestinian hate.
A number of other emergency resolutions tackling various contentious issues will also be discussed Saturday.
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government鈥檚 three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party鈥檚 popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn鈥檛 be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Interest rate drops to 3.75% as Bank of Canada makes another cut
The Bank of Canada made a sizable cut to its key lending rate Wednesday from 4.25 per cent to 3.75 per cent as the global economy continues to expand. The half percentage point cut is the fourth rate cut in a row by the central bank as inflation dropped from 2.7 per cent in June to 1.6 per cent in September.
A new report suggests that Canadians' exposure to a radioactive gas is increasing, putting millions of people at a higher risk of developing lung cancer.
Does the updated COVID-19 vaccine protect against the XEC variant?
The XEC strain, a hybrid of Omicron subvariants KS.1.1 and KP.3.3, was first detected in Canada in mid-August and the number of COVID-19 cases with the XEC variant has rapidly increased.
Bank of Montreal customers dealing with online service outage
The Bank of Montreal has confirmed an outage impacting online services via the bank's website.
McDonald's president says its food is safe to eat after U.S. E. coli outbreak
A day after after an E. coli outbreak tied to Quarter Pounders in the western part of the United States left one dead and 10 hospitalized, McDonald鈥檚 entered full damage-control mode.
W5 Investigates How a clothes donation bin company passed itself off as a charity, while donated items were put up for sale
In part two of a four-part investigation into the seedy underbelly of the lucrative clothing donation bin industry, CTV W5 uses trackers tp reveal a for-profit operation masquerading as a charity.
Unspecified number of Liberal MPs set to confront Trudeau, ask him to step down
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will face down his own caucus members in a hotly anticipated meeting this morning, as several of them plan to try to convince him to step aside.
'Unbelievably violent': Gisele Pelicot, French victim of mass rape, takes the stand
Gisele Pelicot, the 72-year-old victim of mass rape whose ordeal has shocked the world, told a trial in southern France on Wednesday that she was determined that making her case public should help other women and change society.
Police have confirmed the body of an employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax over the weekend was found in a walk-in oven.
Local Spotlight
A meteor lit up our region's sky last night 鈥 with a large fireball shooting across the horizon over Lake Erie at around 7:00 p.m.
Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.
A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.
A newly minted Winnipegger is hoping a world record attempt will help bring awareness for the need for more pump track facilities in the city.
A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.
Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.
Looking for a scare with good intentions this Halloween season? The ghosts and ghouls of Eganville, Ont. invite families to tour the Haunted Walk at Lekbor Manor.
The image of a sleepy Saskatchewan small town with 'not a lot going on' is a well-known anecdote. However, one Saskatchewan company is hoping to change that 鈥 and allow communities both on and off the beaten path to share their stories and advertise what they have to offer.
A Moncton, N.B., home has been donated to the Friends of The Moncton Hospital Foundation and will be transformed into a resource hub for people living with cancer.