Mulcair announces NDP’s Pharmacare plan in Regina

“With a national plan, we can drive down the costs of prescription drugs for Canadians and we can save provinces as much as $3 billion annually,” Mulcair insisted.

Seniors in the room were pleased with the news.

“Long term, this is actually going to save us a lot of money,” believed Jim Olesen.

“It sounds feasible to me,” said Linda Norheim.

“I think Pharmacare is long overdue. Our healthcare system has deteriorated so bad.”

Long-gun registry backtrack

Mulcair is flip-flopping on his stance on whether to reinstate the long-gun registry. Not even a year ago, he explained how he would revive the registry in some form.

He was quite clear at the time.

“There has to be a way to get this done in a way that ensures public protection without going overboard which is one the other one did. Our obligation is our starting point. We are working right now with teams. We’re working with people who are in the field to make sure that we build the best system possible,” he said in December, outside an NDP caucus meeting.

“The result for us is that the police are able to track every gun in Canada. That’s the result. We’re looking at the means. We know that the means that the Liberals put in place cost over a billion dollars was not very effective and had some serious problems with it.”

However, Mulcair is now backtracking on his position. When asked whether he thinks Canadians want another long-gun registry, he changed his tune.

“The NDP is categorical. We will not be bringing back any gun registry, period,” he assured.

Reporters did not get the chance to ask any follow-up questions.

kmartel@cjme.com
On Twitter @KevinMartel

by Kevin Martel

Mulcair announces NDP’s Pharmacare plan in Regina

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