Elections are a good time for advocacy groups to influence policy making by educating political parties and candidates on important issues. On June 12, 2014, voters in Ontario are going to the polls to vote for their Members of Provincial Parliaments. Last month, we asked all three major political parties what their plan is for making expensive drugs for rare diseases like cystic fibrosis available to patients should they form Government after the election. This is an especially important policy question given advances in personalized medicines such as KALYDECO®.
We are sharing with you the responses from the Ontario Liberal Party, the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario and the Ontario New Democratic Party. The responses are presented in the order of the number of seats held by the parties at the dissolution of parliament. As a registered charity, we are governed by the Canada Revenue Agency’s rules on political activities for charitable organizations. Therefore, we do not endorse any political party or candidate for office, or a policy position taken by the political parties. On behalf of the Canadian cystic fibrosis community, I want to thank the political parties for responding to our questionnaire.