EDMONTON — Yesterday, it was announced that the tabling of a National Pharmacare bill in the House of Commons will be delayed into the new year. This extends the timeline that was laid out in the Confidence and Supply Agreement between the NDP and the governing Liberals, which stipulated that legislation should be tabled and passed by the end of 2023.

EDMONTON — This morning, the federal government announced a major expansion of dental care coverage for Canadians to be rolled out over the coming months. Dental care is one of the priorities that was laid out in the Confidence and Supply Agreement between the NDP and the governing Liberals, which included a timeline that called for seniors, folks living with disabilities and those under 18 to be covered under a dental insurance program to be announced by the end of this year.

Every year, November 14 is recognized as World Diabetes Day. This year’s theme is Access to Diabetes Care, a reminder that we have a long way to go to ensure those living with diabetes in Alberta have access to the care they need.

Albertans will remember last year, when the UCP government announced that they would be terminating the Insulin Pump Benefits Program, impacting up to 4,000 Albertans with diabetes. Following massive public outcry from Friends of Medicare, Pump 4 Life, and thousands of grassroots Albertans, the government finally conceded by announcing they were stopping their plans to end the Insulin Pump Benefits Program and instead, struck a working group to consult on diabetes care. No new announcements or improvements to coverage have come since that working group was formed.

On September 7, Friends of Medicare hosted a public townhall event in Edmonton, on how we can achieve a national, universal, public townhall for all. 

We were joined by panelists Elizabeth Kwan, Senior Researcher for the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), Pauline Worsfold, Chair of the Canadian Health Coalition (CHC), and Judy Lederer, President of the Edmonton Area Council of the Congress of Union Retirees of Canada (CURC) and co-chair of the Alberta Pharmacare Working Group. We heard from our panelists and participants about how critical this political moment is in the fight for a universal, public drug program — and how important it is that we don't miss our chance to act on it.

Judy Lederer also sits on the board of Friends of Medicare, and has shared her presentation with us here:

The Confidence and Supply Agreement signed between the federal Liberal and New Democratic Parties puts universal, single-payer, public Pharmacare on the House of Commons agenda this fall, with a promise to table and pass a national act before the end of 2023. A private members bill, tabled by the NDP earlier this year, lays out what they believe a national act should look like. With Parliament reconvening today, Friends of Medicare is renewing our call for the federal government to act to urgently implement Pharmacare.

Winnipeg (Treaty No. 1 Territory), July 10, 2023 - As Canada’s provincial and territorial premiers meet, Health Coalitions across Canada are calling on Prime Minister Trudeau to  demand an end to the privatization of public health care by premiers. 

Alberta Seniors’ Week is the first full week of June every year, and is a chance for Albertans to show appreciation for Alberta’s seniors and all that they contribute to Alberta. 

EDMONTON — This Senior’s Week, Public Interest Alberta and Friends of Medicare continue to call for the return of an independent Seniors’ Advocate, for Alberta to get on board with universal pharmacare, and for a comprehensive system of service delivery that ensures the well-being of seniors by ensuring their mental, physical, social and financial needs are met.

The Trudeau government is set to release their next federal budget on Tuesday, March 28 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

OTTAWA — The Confidence and Supply Agreement (CASA) signed between the Liberals and NDP last year put the health of people’s teeth, the cost of medication, better long-term care, and the future of our health care system at the centre of federal policy discussion and budgeting.

OTTAWA — Tomorrow, Canada’s Premiers will be in Ottawa to meet with Prime Minister Trudeau to discuss health care funding.

For months, Friends of Medicare, other health coalitions, and health care advocates across the country have been calling for an increase to the Canadian Health Transfer, and have held that any new agreement to fund public health care must be used in the public interest and not be allowed to be used by Premiers to privatize health care in their provinces.

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Trudeau announced today he will be meeting with premiers of provinces and territories in Ottawa on February 7, 2023 to talk about the health care crisis. The planned First Ministers meeting is the culmination of a months-long campaign by the premiers to convince the federal government to send billions of dollars more in funding to provinces through the Canada Health Transfer.