In March, Prime Minister Carney promised pharmacare 'for everyone who needs it,' but there was no new money for it in his government's recent budget.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press

Can you mourn something that never existed? Like the idea of a happy marriage when you knew all along you settled for the first person who accepted your advances? Or the daydream of a life of luxury and indulgence, which feels possible while you’re holding a lottery ticket, but vanishes as soon as the numbers are called? What about the notion of universal drug coverage for all Canadians, which has been under consideration for decades – an official recommendation as far back as the first report from the Royal Commission on Health Services, published in 1964 – and appeared, at least to some, as though it might become a reality under the Justin Trudeau administration?

Prime Minister Mark Carney hasn’t called time of death for pharmacare yet. But everyone can see it’s only being kept alive by machines, still referred to in the present tense because anything else would be too painful.

Perhaps Mr. Carney is reluctant to admit to another election bait-and-switch, akin to how “elbows up” during the campaign became kiss-the-ring afterward. Back in March, Mr. Carney promised “dental care and pharmacare for everyone who........

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