No deal without pharmacare bill, says NDP leader

OTTAWA - New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh says if the Liberal government does not introduce a pharmacare bill in the House of Commons this year, he will consider it a deal-breaker.

Both parties signed a confidence-and-supply agreement last March, in which the NDP agreed to support the minority Liberal government in key votes until 2025.

In exchange, the Liberals would advance some NDP priorities, including by passing pharmacare legislation by the end of this year.

Singh says health care will remain his party's top priority heading into the next sitting.

How it started ➡️ How it's going.

Decades of Liberal and Conservative cuts have weakened our health care system.

Now, as Conservatives across the country wage an attack on our universal health care system, Justin Trudeau refuses to act.

But I won't back down. pic.twitter.com/1YSwFvR16d

— Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) January 19, 2023

He says his party would also withdraw their support of the Liberal government if they do not expand dental care this year.

Singh says he wants to see dental coverage expanded for teens, seniors and those living with a disability, which is also spelled out in the agreement between both parties.