OTTAWA—Finance Minister Bill Morneau now says he’s “agnostic” on proposals for a pharmacare plan after criticism that he was trying to dial back ambitions for a new program to ensure Canadians get the prescription drugs they need.

Morneau said Friday that he’s not seeking to prejudge the outcome of a newly created advisory council that will be looking at the idea or dampen the scope of their recommendations.

“What’s really clear to us is we need to get expert advice on how to do this best,” Morneau said during a visit to Montreal to discuss the budget measures.

Tuesday’s budget revealed the federal government’s intentions to take a serious look at the creation of a national pharmacare plan. The Liberals launched an advisory council, led by former Ontario health minister Dr. Eric Hoskins, to recommend options for a Canadian model.

But on Wednesday, Morneau appeared to dial down expectations, saying any pharmacare “strategy” would only deal with the “gaps” and wouldn’t “throw out the system that we currently have.”

That prompted the Canadian Federation of Nurses Union, Canadian Doctors for Medicare and the Canadian Labour Congress to write an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau demanding Morneau be removed from the file.

They said Morneau has already decided it will not be a universal “plan” that covers all workers — to the detriment of Canadians, and the benefit of insurance and pharmaceutical companies, and, they suggested, Morneau Shepell.

They said it contradicts “overwhelming evidence” on the need for a universal program and undermines the work of Hoskins’ council before it begins.

“It is our hope that insurance industry and pharmaceutical industry interests will not play a role in the implementation of universal public pharmacare,” the letter to Trudeau stated.

On Friday, Morneau backed away from his earlier comments and insisted he would be open-minded about the council’s findings. “I am agnostic on the conclusions other than making sure that we get Canadians to a position where everyone has access to healthcare,” he said.

“We have enlisted experts to help us with that goal. We’ll do this and we’ll get to the right conclusion for Canadians,” he said.

Hassan Yussuff, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, told the Star that Morneau’s office contacted him to reassure him that the finance minister had an open mind on pharmacare. Morneau personally spoke with Yussuf, who says the finance minister was clear that he was not prejudging the outcome of the Hoskins council.

Yussuff says he has also spoken with Hoskins, who Yussuff said conveyed that he has a wide mandate to make recommendations.

Yussuff said he was “satisified” after those conversations that the government will make this decision based on the evidence and the recommendations that Hoskins brings forward. And he believes it will be up to the Health Minister Ginette Pettipas-Taylor — not Morneau — to design the policy.

He clarified the CLC was not withdrawing its support for the letter but says the government has allayed its concerns at the outset.

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Note –March 5, 2018: This article was edited from a previous version to include the complete name of Canadian Federation of Nurses Union.

Correction - March 7, 2018: This article was edited from a previous version that misspelled Hassan Yussuff’s surname.

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