Reinstatement of ParticipAction, creation of a national pharmacare program and the launch of a royal commission to study the merits of a federally run public drug company are part of the NDP's health care platform to be released today in Halifax. In an interview yesterday, NDP leader Jack Layton said he would also pledge an end to privately run clinics operating in the "grey zone" of medicare offering for-fee services such as magnetic resonance imaging tests. "MRIs should be properly defined as part of the medical system as opposed to functioning in a growing grey zone which is leading to two-tier diagnosis," Mr. Layton said. "We would be moving to bring this sort of operation, in a reasonable and strategic way, into the public sector." Bringing back the $2.5-million ParticipAction program, which encouraged Canadians to be more active and eat healthy foods, is part of Mr. Layton's larger message that health dollars could be better spent if they focused on preventing illness and disease before Canadians ended up in hospital. The release of the NDP's health-care platform comes a day after Conservative leader Stephen Harper announced his health platform in Toronto. Mr. Harper proposed a federally run pharmacare plan for Canadians facing catastrophic drug costs and said he was not concerned with private delivery of health care provided it was publically accessible by all. Mr. Layton will also pledge a national pharmacare program that would be phased in over time, beginning with those who need catastrophic drugs and low-income Canadians. Unlike Mr. Harper, Mr. Layton opposes more private delivery of health care and will attempt to paint both the Conservatives and the Liberals as threats to the public health care system. "The problem with the for-profit system is that it takes dollars which should be going into health delivery and it puts it into brokerage fees and the rate of return required by stock investors all over the world," he said. Other NDP pledges include a national bulk-buying drug program based on the Australian model and changing drug patent laws to favour the generic industry. The 20-year patent for brand-name manufacturers would be cut in half, and current avenues used to extend the life of a patent through a process known as "evergreening" would be closed. The NDP would ban trans fat from the Canadian food chain, which has already been proposed through a private member's bill by NDP MP Pat Martin. Mr. Layton's election-style speech in Halifax follows an appearance yesterday in Toronto during which he accused Prime Minister Paul Martin of reneging on his pledge to field more female candidates. According to figures compiled by One Voice, an advocacy group for increased female representation, women will make up 25 per cent of Mr. Martin's Liberal slate, compared to 30 per cent for the NDP, 26 per cent for the Bloc Quebecois and 11 per cent for the Conservatives.
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