{"podcast":{"title":"CanCon","slug":"cancon-7243791","podcast_index_feed_id":7243791,"rss_url":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/5KDCoHqs","website_url":"https://elbows-up.simplecast.com","image_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/459eaf0b-a302-4d43-9318-4481701fcb41/ff62d403-6341-4382-9426-9bbdae4fd75e/3000x3000/cancon-showcover-3000x3000.jpg?aid=rss_feed","author":"Jordan Heath-Rawlings, Laura Palmer","episode_count":43,"summary":"It's a fascinating time to be Canadian. This is a show that breaks all that wide open. Dangers. Opportunities. The stories that make this country what it is. And what it isn't. Longtime journalist and podcast host Jordan Heath-Rawlings (Elbows Up, The Big Story, The Gravy Train) returns to host critical Canadian Conversations with leading experts and storytellers. These are discussions—about who we are, how we got here, and where we're going—designed to offer more than soundbites and headlines. They'll introduce you to places, people and policies you might not have otherwise met, or perhaps not considered to be worth your attention. But they are.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-01T22:17:55.541573+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/cancon-7243791"},"episode":{"title":"What happened to Canada's Pharmacare plan?","slug":"what-happened-to-canada-s-pharmacare-plan","published_at":"2026-06-04T10:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/cancon-7243791/what-happened-to-canada-s-pharmacare-plan","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/cancon-7243791","url":"https://elbows-up.simplecast.com/episodes/what-happened-to-canadas-pharmacare-plan-_2Kuy_ZW","audio_url":"https://cdn.simplecast.com/media/audio/transcoded/651f3112-796a-485e-b005-e50532570169/13039807-2ea8-4138-bba4-ff99d4da8b96/episodes/audio/group/52669f00-84d1-4698-a984-0584ec1d8873/group-item/be34d189-587b-4de0-a974-6ca64d2d8c7d/128_default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=5KDCoHqs","summary":"It was long overdue, and began with a promise: It might start small, covering just a few common drugs, and expand until Canadians without benefits were no longer struggling to afford medication prescribed by doctors under our universal health care system. Less than two years later, however, the program seems set to contract instead of expand. It never got beyond the first couple of drugs, and the funding might well be squeezed to zero by the federal government. What happened here? Does Pharmacare still have a chance? And why weren't necessary drugs part of a \"universal\" health care system in the first place? Nikolas Barry-Shaw, a campaigner at the Council of Canadians, joins us to discuss how such a promising program became at risk of vanishing as quickly as it became reality. (We're welcoming our first sponsor to CanCon. Go RVing Canada wants to help you explore the country this summer, without leaving behind the comforts of home. If you've ever been curious about RVing, but have questions, they can help.)","meta_description":"It was long overdue, and began with a promise: It might start small, covering just a few common drugs, and expand until Canadians without benefits were no…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1531,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/cancon-7243791/episodes/what-happened-to-canada-s-pharmacare-plan/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/cancon-7243791/what-happened-to-canada-s-pharmacare-plan.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}