The federal NDP says it will fast-track a universal drug plan for 2020 if elected this fall as part of an expansion of Canada’s health-care system.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said if his party forms government after the October federal election, it will inject $10 billion annually into a national pharmacare program as the first step towards a broader move which would eventually see universal dental, vision and hearing care.
The policy comes in a new “commitments document” _ dubbed A New Deal for People _ which a party spokesman said will form the basis of the NDP federal election platform.
The plan also includes 500,000 more affordable housing units, grant programs for post secondary education, reducing the cost of cellphone and broadband services and enhancing childcare across the country.

Federal party leaders must ensure three pieces of legislation of “fundamental importance” to Indigenous Peoples and the country pass before the election, says Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde.
In a letter, Bellegarde called on the leaders to help, adding it is “absolutely critical” to ensure the passage of the bills, each awaiting its third reading in the Senate. If they aren’t passed before the fall election, the bills will not be made into law.
The list includes Bill C-262, a plan to ensure Canadian laws are in harmony with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and bills on Indigenous languages and child welfare.

A new Google Doodle on the search engines homepage features indigenous artists depicting the jingle dress dance.
The artwork was done by Ojibwe artist Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley.
Pawis-Steckley says he hopes it carries the message that Anishinaabe culture is beautiful and Indigenous women are strong.

A new poll of 1500 Canadians suggests most agree the murders and disappearances of Indigenous women amount to genocide.
Fifty-three per cent of respondents agreed with the finding of the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, which last week concluded that the tragedy is part of an “ongoing genocide” that has been centuries in the making.
17 per cent blamed colonization and the loss of Indigenous lands to European settlers, 15 per cent blamed church-run residential schools and another 15 per cent pointed to the destruction of cultural identity and forced assimilation; just three per cent blamed racism.