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‘Big impasse’ remains as Liberal, NDP pharmacare deadline looms: Singh

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Leader of the New Democratic Party Jagmeet Singh says his party will no longer feel obligated to support the government under its supply-and-confidence deal if the Liberals fail to meet the deadline for passing pharmacare legislation.

It’s a deal poised to fall apart should that March 1 deadline for legislation to set up a future pharmacare plan not be met.

The confidence-and-supply deal that has the NDP supporting the minority Liberals on key votes in the House of Commons, initially outlined that the government would introduce a bill to create a framework for national pharmacare by the end of last year.

That deadline was extended in hopes of reaching an agreement with the parties after negotiations over the legislation itself stalled.

READ MORE: NDP to campaign on pharmacare if it backs out of Liberal deal

In an interview with CHCH News, Singh says a “big impasse” remains in reaching a deal ahead of that March 1 deadline.

It’s an impasse that he says is centered on those Canadians who continue to make tough choices regarding their healthcare given their financial circumstances.

“I want that senior to know that we’re fighting for them to make sure that they can have medication that’s affordable, that’s included in the healthcare system,” explains Singh.

“The Liberals are proposing a system that would appease big pharma, would appease big insurance companies, but wouldn’t help out that senior. That’s our impasse.”

READ MORE: NDP rule out coalition government with Liberals after next election

Singh says his party is standing firm in the deadline and not willing to extend it further.

“We made it very clear. We were going to give one extension, that was agreed upon. We also made it clear that because they missed their deadline, we are expecting more.”

Should the agreement be broken, the NDP leader says the Liberals cannot expect votes or support from their party, though it would still be taken on a “vote by vote basis.”

The NDP have previously expressed that they will not support a bill that is not reflective of a universal, single-payer system.