The Nova Scotia government is moving ahead on a controversial bill despite pleas from dozens of drugstore owners to shelve it.

Pharmacists claim that capping the price of generic drugs will hurt their bottom line at a time when they are being asked to offer more services.

The province is still trying to determine how to compensate pharmacies for those extra services and it's still negotiating a new dispensing fee.

Opposition parties say the bill should be delayed until those issues are resolved, but Premier Darrell Dexter isn't interested.

"This is about fair drug prices for the people of the province," he said Tuesday. "What the Opposition is doing, of course, is they are really engaging in a process where they would actually drive up the cost of drugs for ordinary consumers across the province."

Dexter said the bill will proceed without amendment and without delay.

The bill would cap the price of generic drugs to 45 per cent of the brand-name equivalent in July, 40 per cent by January and 35 per cent by July 1, 2012.

Pharmacists claim they are losing $4 on every prescription they fill, and the cap would be a financial disaster.

Kim Geldart, who owns three Pharmasave drug stores in Chester, said last week that without higher dispensing fees the generic drug cap could force her to close one of her stores and lay off four to seven pharmacists.