TORONTO - YouTube has become the latest front in Ontario's escalating war with pharmacists over generic drug costs.
A day after pharmacies launched an ad campaign to protest funding cuts, the governing Liberals have opened a YouTube channel and website to get their message across.
Premier Dalton McGuinty says people are beginning to understand that health care poses a challenge that could endangering other programs.
He says when people learn that Ontario pays some of the highest drug costs in the world, they'll ask themselves what can be done to reduce those costs.
McGuinty says it's not his government's job to ensure the survival of smaller pharmacies who say the changes will force them to close their doors.
The Liberals sparked the battle two weeks ago by announcing plans to eliminate fees paid to pharmacists in order to lower the cost of generic drugs.
The Ontario government says ending the so-called professional allowances will cut the price of generic drugs by at least 50 per cent, knocking $500 million a year off the cost to the province's public drug plan for seniors and others.
But critics say it will also force many independent pharmacies -- about half of all drug stores in Ontario -- to close their doors.
