Progressive Conservative Health critic Chris d’Entremont today asked Glavine about the delays in Question Period.
“October has come and gone and all we have is radio silence from the government,” says d’Entremont. “Seniors and their families are rightfully concerned about what the government has planned for their Pharmacare program and about why they’re stalling with meeting seniors face-to-face. What tricks do they have up their sleeve this time?”
In an exchange with a reporter about the future changes to the program, Glavine said they can be in place by December or January and that his government would need to have consultations in place for that to happen.
Reporter: When does consultation need to start by in order for the changes to take effect this year?
Glavine: I think they can be done pretty quickly through October.
d’Entremont says seniors are growing increasingly worried that the McNeil Liberals are going to try to pull the wool over their eyes again.
Earlier this year, Stephen McNeil’s government lied to seniors and put them into a state of panic when they tried to sneak through increased premiums. With public pressure from seniors, the Liberals were forced to halt the changes. Minister Glavine admitted the McNeil government’s failure on the file and indicated they would consult with seniors on proposed changes before implementing them.
“In typical Liberal fashion, they had to scrap their proposed plan and start from scratch. They should have been out there all along talking to seniors,” d’Entremont said. “These further delays are forcing seniors to continue to wait and worry about what the future holds for them.”