Shoppers Drug Mart is edging Centretown’s independent pharmacies out of the marketplace and much of the blame should fall on the Ontario government.
Last summer, the McGuinty government introduced new regulations aimed at driving down the price of generic drugs, in an attempt to make prescription drugs more affordable. But the way it implemented the regulations generated enormous controversy.
For one thing, critics were angered that no public consultation was held prior to the changes. The controversy was compounded when a coalition of independent pharmacies banded together to argue the changes would lead to profit losses and store closures.
Lower drug costs offer a clear and direct benefit to a portion of Canadian consumers who pay more for generic drugs than any other advanced industrialized society. But it has made it more difficult for small, locally owned pharmacies to compete against corporate chains with deep pockets.
Independent pharmacies around the city struggle to remain in business while large chains, whose size and resources allow them to adjust more easily to the new regulations, expand at an alarming rate.
Next door to Centretown, The Glebe Apothecary, locally owned for more than 25 years, was quietly sold to Shoppers Drug Mart last month. Even though Shoppers says the store will keep its name and continue to operate in much the same way, it is evidence of tough times when a decades-old independent business is sold.
Shoppers Drug Mart already has two locations in Centretown. A third is under construction at the site of the old Metropolitan Bible Church. The sustained growth of the chain further strains independent pharmacies already coping with lost profits.
While it is tempting to look at this situation as a natural outcome of free-market capitalism, in the case of Ontario’s pharmacies government policy is compounding the challenges confronting independent business owners.
By forcing pharmacies to cut the cost of generic drugs, the provincial government has put small independent pharmacies at a huge disadvantage that is killing their businesses.
There are, without question, benefits offered by large chains such as Shoppers Drug Mart. Beyond the cost savings it can offer, Shoppers also broadens its base of products to include grocery and personal hygiene items that its smaller competitors are unable to supply.
But the consequence of expanding corporate control is a loss of the distinct character and diversity of local communities and a decline in the ability of individuals to start their own businesses.
The closure of local businesses also makes alternatives to uniform, mass produced junk that much harder to find.
The government should make it easier for entrepreneurs to start and then thrive as small business owners. But in the case of locally owned pharmacies in Centretown and elsewhere, the government of Ontario has made this goal more difficult to achieve than ever.