Over Easter weekend, Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland announced the Trudeau government’s plans to tax Canadians into paying for ‘free’ nationwide, on-demand birth control for women across Canada.
“In the upcoming federal budget, we will be delivering free contraceptives through our national pharmacare plan,” Freeland told constituents of the University–Rosedale riding.
“As a proudly feminist government, we take freedom of choice seriously. That freedom should not come with a cost,” she continued. “As women’s reproductive rights are challenged in other parts of the world—including just south of the border—it is more important than ever for us to ensure that Canadian women have access to contraception. Today, tomorrow, and the day after that.
“This is every woman’s fundamental right. It’s a fundamental human right for women. Not being able to control your body means you don’t control your life. And that’s not okay.”
According to Freeland, the annual cost of birth control in Canada ranges from $300 for pills to $500 for an IUD. “That’s not cheap,” she says, and that’s why every Canadian should be forced to flip the bill for some women’s choices.
How much will Freeland’s plan cost?
Freeland says that, while the plan hasn’t been finalized, the goal is to provide free birth control to approximately 9 million Canadian women.
At $300 a head, according to Freeland’s own number, that means Canadians will be forced to pay out a collective $2.7 billion every single year at least—and that’s before administrative and distribution costs.
This announcement came only days before the Liberals jacked up the carbon tax (i.e., today, April 1), effectively raising the prices of gas, heating, food, transportation, and practically everything else.
And they’re not done.
According to Freeland, providing birth control to every woman across Canada is just one part of the first phase of a broader plan to increase the number of things Canadians will have to pay for whether they use it or not—ironically, all in the name of “expanding the middle class”.
Freeland says that she will be providing more details on this plan on April 16th.
