Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says her government will introduce a nationwide dental care plan after the NDP threatened to reverse its promise to keep the Liberals in power if the plan is not implemented by the end of the year. He said he was doing his best to keep his promise.
After touring an auto parts maker in Etobicoke, Ontario, on Aug. 9, Freeland said, “Providing dental care to children and families who earn less than $90,000 a year — children under the age of 12 — is one of the most important things we can do. was a clear promise made within budget.”
“This is what we promised in our trust and supply agreement with NDP. We are working hard to deliver on that.”
The Liberal Party and the NDP reached a deal in March to keep the minority Liberal Party in power until 2025. In return, the NDP was promised the establishment of a national pharmaceutical and dental programme.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh Said The Toronto Star this week said his party would break the deal if a new dental program for children under 12 isn’t implemented by the end of the year.
“I have made it very clear to the prime minister directly that this has to happen,” Singh reportedly told Star. “They have no choice. This has to happen. The deal is based on this.”
Liberals to give $5.3 billion Budget 2022 to your dental care plan. It will be available to children under 12 in households earning less than $90,000 a year, then expanded to under 18s, seniors and people with disabilities in 2023, with full implementation expected in 2025. .
Congressional budget officials said in a June legislative note that the program would likely cost nearly $9 billion.
The Tories have been critical of the deal struck between the Liberals and the NDP, accusing them of implementing a “spending and tax budget”.
There is speculation that the government will take stopgap measures if the program cannot be rolled out, but Mr Singh said there is “no exception”.
Referring to the process of reaching state agreements on child care, Freeland alluded to obstacles to implementing the program as planned.
“Providing new services to Canadians is complicated and I think Canadians understand that,” she said.
The Liberal government has come under fire for its existing service offerings this summer, with much of the criticism related to travel issues such as delays in obtaining passports and delays at airports.
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Noé Chartier is a reporter for the Epoch Times based in Montreal. Twitter: @NChartierET Gettr: @nchartieret