Canadians are proud of our universal public health care system, which is based on need and not ability to pay. It is time to build on this proud legacy and take the next bold step of implementing a universal public pharmacare program—a publicly funded and publicly delivered program. Getting there requires leadership from our elected representatives.  Canada is the only developed country in the world with a universal health care program that doesn’t include a universal prescription drug plan.

So lets inform our leadership with "concrete stories" that  illustrate the need for public and universal Pharmacare. Your story matters.  About one third of working Canadians don’t have employer-funded prescription drug coverage.  The less you earn at work, the less likely you are to have prescription drug coverage. Women and young workers are less likely to have the coverage they need. Even those with drug plans are paying ever-increasing co-payments and deductibles.  People with multiple and intersecting identities face even steeper challenges.

We know that there are Yukoners affected by this, but now we need to hear your story.

• Did you have to choose between groceries or medication?
• Did you face hospitalization because you could not afford preventative pharmacare?
• Have you been negatively impacted because you could not afford the prescriptions when you needed them?
• You don't have a workplace benefits plan or that plan does not cover/is not accessible?

Whatever your story, we invite you to share it with us. We do not need to include your personal contact information, but we would like permission to share your story with our elected representatives so they can prove to their colleagues that a universal publicly funded and publicly delivered pharmacare is what Canadians need now.