Federal election may kill access to medicines bill

TORONTO – A number of Canadian social groups and humanitarian organizations are urging the Senate to act quickly on a bill aimed at sending inexpensive medicine to the Third World.

Bill C-393 would amend the Canadian Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR), making it easier to get generic drugs from Canada to communities in Africa.

The bill, sponsored by NDP MP Paul Dewar, has been through a marathon of hurdles and was passed in the House of Commons two weeks ago.

The bill now needs to be passed by the Senate, but with an election looming, it is at risk of being killed yet again.

This week Liberal Senator Sharon Carstairs, who is sponsoring the bill in the Senate, said repeated adjournments may doom the bill. Deliberations on Bill C-393 began Monday, but ended on both Monday and Tuesday with Conservative Senator Stephen Greene moving for the debate to be adjourned.

Carstairs calls Senator Greene’s actions a delay tactic: “They’re going to keep adjourning this, at least until we know what the status is going to be with respect to an election campaign.”

With a federal election looming, the possibility remains that the Senate could continually adjourn session until an election is held and the bill dies on Order Paper.

Canada’s senators will likely be familiar with Bill C-393. A nearly identical bill – C-232 – was put before the Senate in 2009. The bill died when Parliament was prorogued later that year.

In a recent poll, 80 per cent of Canadians said they support Bill C-393. More than 70,000 Canadians recently signed a petition or sent letters to MPs urging Parliament to turn the proposal into law. The campaign gained momentum as humanitarian groups, politicians, and musicians like Canadian rapper K’naan voiced their support for the legislation.