The pharmaceutical care bill passes a key test ahead of its final vote in the Senate next week

The government’s pharmaceutical legislation has survived a major step toward becoming law and could pass the Senate next week.

Bill C-64, a framework for the implementation of national pharmaceutical care, passed the Senate Social Affairs, Science and Technology Committee without amendments on Thursday. It now goes to a final vote in the Senate.

The bill, which was a condition of the now-defunct Supply and Confidence Agreement between the NDP and the Liberals, It will be voted on in the Senate for its third reading on October 10.

Had the bill been amended in committee, it would have been sent back to the House of Commons in a divided and unstable minority parliament.

If the legislation passes, the pharmacy plan would cover some diabetes treatments and contraception in provinces that enter into agreements with the federal government.

Last month, British Columbia became the first province to sign a pharmaceutical agreement with the federal government.

NDP House leader and health critic Peter Julian was present for the clause-by-clause approval of the bill by the Senate committee.

“It’s not important how I feel,” Julian said. “It’s about how Canadians feel, especially Canadians with diabetes… What they feel is a sense of hope.”

Bill C-64 is being heralded by the federal government as the first step in a broader pharmaceutical regime in the coming years. Canadians will go to the polls next year and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has spoken out against the proposed single-payer plan, arguing it would force Canadians to give up their own private drug plans.

In February, federal officials told reporters in a background briefing that the government does not know how much this first phase of the pharmaceutical program will cost, and that the final price will only be determined after negotiations with the provinces and territories.

When pressed, Health Minister Mark Holland estimated the cost at $1.5 billion.

At a Senate committee hearing on September 18, Holland said he was “ambivalent” about how pharmaceutical care would be administered. He later clarified his position by calling for universal single-payer coverage in a letter to committee chair Senator Ratna Omidvar on September 27.

“This coverage standard means that all residents of a participating province or territory are eligible for free access, with no co-pays or deductibles, to a range of contraceptive and diabetes medications. Under this program, the costs of these medications will be paid and managed through the public plan, rather than through a mix of public and private payers,” Holland said in the letter.

During Thursday’s committee meeting, Sen. Flordeliz Osler attempted to add the words “publicly managed” in an amendment to the legislation. She said she wanted to protect the pharmaceutical framework from attempts by future governments to change how the program is funded.

“The intent of this amendment is not to delay, but to codify the minister’s intent into law,” she said.

Her amendment was rejected by other senators.

“The timing of this is critical because as we know there is no longer a supply and trust agreement in place,” said Senator Kim Pate of the Independent Senators Group.

“More importantly, the government has been very clear, as evidenced by the minister’s letter, that whatever ambiguity may have existed following his testimony, he has since been crystal clear in the letter.”