Tense negotiations on the federal pharmacare plan came to a head in late January when NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, shown last week in Ottawa, had a "testy" conversation with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a source says.
OTTAWA It was January, and it was the closest the New Democrats had ever come to ditching the deal that keeps Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority government alive.
It had been just a few weeks since the NDP had agreed to extend the deadline for a core priority of the parliamentary accord: a longsought plan to establish a universal, national drug coverage program.
Both sides couldn't agree on the scope of what that program would look like. With the original endof-2023 deadline to pass pharmacare legislation now gone, and with negotiations still hitting a wall, the New Democrats had a decision to make.
They started preparing to pull out of the alliance - just in case - said senior NDP sources, speaking to the Star on the condition they not be named.
"How are we going to communicate that? Who do we have to talk to about that? What does it mean to not be in the agreement? How would we handle the budget votes coming up?" one source said of the questions that swirled within the party at the time.
"We started talking to the party about accelerating election planning. We let the staff know that this was a possible scenario and people should start getting their minds around it. We let caucus know that this was a possible scenario and they should get their heads around that." It wasn't something the New Democrats wanted to do. The party's pact with Trudeau's Liberals was about to hit the two-year mark: a relatively harmonious alliance, by many accounts, that has seen progress on priorities like dental care, workers' rights and climate change in exchange for the NDP's support.
Bu hikaye Toronto Star dergisinin March 06, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Toronto Star dergisinin March 06, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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Disgraceful behaviour on Parliament Hill
‘Was it you or not?’ Jagmeet Singh confronts heckler on Parliament Hill, Sept. 17
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Dutcher wins second Polaris award
Singer donating prize to school in New Brunswick
