I commend the Final Report of the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare, I hopes its recommendations will be implemented, ideally in a time frame shorter than the report envisions. I continue to have concerns over pharmaceutical pricing for Canadians, including the lack of progress on reform of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB). The PMPRB was created in 1987 to protect consumers and make sure pharmaceutical companies don’t use monopolies to charge excessive prices. In May 2017, when I was Minister of Health, I announced consultations on a suite of regulatory changes that would help the PMPRB in its ability to protect consumers from high drug prices. You can watch my speech from that announcement by clicking here.

These were to be the first substantial changes to the regulations in over 20 years. It included a proposal to change the list of countries to which we compare our medication prices. (By continuing to use the USA as a comparator country, we allow inappropriately high ceiling prices.) We also proposed that value for money should factor into determining a fair drug price. And we proposed a requirement to report rebates, discount and refunds to payers, in order to increase transparency and set a fairer price ceiling. I wanted those new regulations in place no later than the end of 2018. But unfortunately, this has not happened.

VIA Rail will be studying routes and stops for potential new passenger lines, some of which may go right through Markham-Stouffville. Currently there is no planned stop to pick up and drop off passengers in our community. Most importantly, I want to hear your perspective, so I can advocate for the best decision for our community.