Submission to the Standing Committee on Health Bill C-64, An Act Respecting Pharmacare

In addition to the requirements contained in Bill C-64, An Act Respecting Pharmacare, for the Minister of Health to request strategies on bulk purchasing and a national formulary, that the Minister is required to review and propose specific whole-of-government strategies that Health Canada can undertake to address delays, inequities, shortages and inadequacies in regulatory, health technology and. [...] That the Minister of Health, in addition to appointing an advisory council: must (1) detail the rationale for how the advisory council is selected, (2) publicly release the council’s terms of reference and (3) be required to produce in annual reports any recommendations made by the advisory council, the Government’s response to each recommendation and the rationale for not moving forward with any. [...] That the Minister of Health is required to appoint a Chief Patient Officer established within a framework that empowers the Chief Patient Officer to fully exercise authority to ensure that patient expertise, values, voices and outcomes are recognized and drive reform, decision making and ongoing work. [...] That the legislation includes a provision for the creation of a Patient Ombudsman that reports to the Parliament of Canada to advise Parliament on any issues in contravention of this Act or the Canada Health Act, and any failure for the Government to uphold the Canada Health Act, with defined intervention and enforcement powers. [...] The Canadian Drug Agency must be established in legislation rather than at the direction of the Minister of Health, subject to Parliamentary oversight, the Access to Information Act, Auditor General scrutiny and interventions by a Patient Ombudsman.