OTTAWA — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party was willing to be flexible on the first phase of the Liberal government’s dental-care plan, but in future the New Democrats will bend no further.
The government agreed to bring in a federal dental plan for uninsured low- and middle-income families as part of a supply and confidence agreement with the NDP.
In exchange for fulfilling its vision for dental care, among other priorities, the NDP agreed not to trigger an election before 2025.
The agreement stipulates that the government deliver dental care to children under age 12 who meet the criteria by the end of this year.
Singh acknowledged in an interview that the timeline was ambitious, which is why the NDP was amenable to an interim measure. “That flexibility allowed for the government to deliver that in a flexible way.”
Rather than launch a full-fledged program, the government opted to deliver cheques directly to qualifying families. The new benefit provides up to $650 for each eligible child, and is based on their family’s income.
To access the money, families with a household income of less than $90,000 need to attest that their child does not have access to private dental coverage, they will have out-of-pocked dental expenses they plan to use the money for, and they will be able to show receipts.
The government announced the benefit would be a “first stage,” while a more comprehensive program is developed.
Singh said his party agreed to the benefit plan on condition the full program be ready for the next phase of qualifying patients by the end of next year.
The program is supposed to extend to all kids under 18, people with disabilities and seniors by the end of 2023, and apply to all members of qualifying families by 2025.
That’s not the only line in the sand the NDP has drawn.
“It’s got to be the full, federally administered program by 2023,” Singh said.
That means, as far as the NDP is concerned, the government can’t have the provinces deliver the dental-care program, as they did with child care.
The health minister’s office said in a statement that the government continues to work with partners, including provinces and territories, to improve access to dental care, and more details will come “in due course.”
The fact that the government is taking extra time to get the program right is good news, said Carlos Quiñonez, vice-dean and director of dentistry at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University.
“Best case scenario, for me, would be if there was a significant runway — one, two, even three years — to sort of think through all of the things that will need to be considered in order to achieve a likelihood of success for such a plan,” said Quiñonez, who was consulted by the federal government.
For one thing, the government will need to carefully work out how to deliver dental care to uninsured people without disturbing what is “ostensibly, a relatively good system,” he said.
Another NDP condition is that the plan, once complete, include “the highest coverage possible” with services that will protect people’s quality of life.
“We want to make sure that quality of life is the top notch: best quality and the best practices,” Singh said, recognizing that some services would fall outside of that scope.
That balance can be difficult to find, though, Quiñonez said.
“To me, that’s a very important issue because it not only has to be scientifically defensible, it also has to be ethically defensible.”
It’s difficult to make hard-set rules about how many cleanings someone is entitled to per year, for example, because people with greater oral health needs might need more care, he said. “These are exactly the reasons why I think it’s prudent to take some time and really think through what the implications of all of this are.”
Those questions are further complicated when one considers the way health and esthetics have become entwined in dentistry, said Catherine Carstairs, a professor in the department of history at the University of Guelph and author of The Smile Gap: a history of oral health and social inequality.
“I think it is hard in dentistry to distinguish between what’s a need and what’s seen to be cosmetic because there’s really quite a blending there.”
Carstairs said she was disappointed by the recently introduced benefit program, but still has high hopes for what the federal government can achieve in time.
“It’s not really going to go very far toward addressing the needs that people have,” she said. “But I’m still pleased to see that the program seems to be proceeding in some capacity.”
Legislation to enable the benefit payments is expected to be tabled in the House of Commons soon as MPs officially return from their summer break.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2022.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
