NDP’s Singh compares Liberals to wrestling with ‘slimy’ eels in pharmacare talks

Working with the Liberals on pharmacare legislation has been like wrestling eels covered in oil, as NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh describes it.

Singh told a town hall meeting in Edmonton, where the New Democrats are holding a caucus retreat, that dealing with the federal government is “not fun.”

“They’re just slimy and break their promises,” Singh said this week, getting laughs from the crowd.

“They say one thing and then try to get out of it, but we’re not giving up and we’re not backing down.”

When the House of Commons returns on Monday, NDP members of Parliament say they will continue to press to get the bill drafted, with Singh calling the effort “the next big fight.”

The NDP has been pushing for a system to cover Canadians’ prescription medicines as part of its deal with the minority Liberals.

Singh says he took the eel description from his party’s health critic Don Davies, who has been negotiating with the government on a framework bill.

Davies says he’s optimistic a bill will be tabled by a deadline of March 1, and his talks with Health Minister Mark Holland will resume next week.