Cabinet has invoked confidentiality in refusing to disclose the overhead cost of a new social program, the Canada Dental Benefit. This follows suspicions that administrative expenses are high, though the program disqualifies the poorest Canadian families from receiving aid, according to Blacklock's Reporter..“The government has shared its own estimates of administrative costs with us,” the Parliamentary Budget Office wrote in a report to the House of Commons government operations committee. “However they have designated these figures to be confidential and therefore not to be released.”.Parliament last November 17 passed Bill C-31 An Act Respecting Cost Of Living Relief Measures that introduced the dental care program. It pays a yearly $650 tax-free grant to parents of children under 12 with household income under $70,000 a year. Families with income from $70,000 to $90,000 would qualify for reduced grants..“Based on similar federal programs we have estimated a reasonable overhead cost for the national program is about five percent,” wrote the Budge Office. Five percent of the official $938 million annual cost of free dentistry is $46.9 million..Conservative MP Kelly McCauley (Edmonton West), chair of the government operations committee, told a December 1 hearing he had heard overhead costs were higher. “I’ve heard rumours floating around that it’s quite excessive,” said McCauley. “I’m curious to see how much we’re actually spending on administration rather than delivering to folks.”.Cabinet’s refusal to disclose the figures follow a December 14 briefing note in which the Department of Health acknowledged the design of the program disqualifies the poorest families. All applicants must be tax filers who submitted a return in the previous year to show their income was under $90,000..“This means individuals who do not file taxes or whose household members don’t will not be eligible for the benefit,” said the note..“It is estimated approximately 10 to 12% of Canadians do not file a tax return annually,” said the note. The rate was as high as 20% of the poorest wage earners, it added..“People with a high school education only, newcomers to Canada and people who rented rather than owned their homes were less likely to file,” wrote staff. “This raises concern some of the individuals the Canada Dental Benefit is attempting to reach may not be eligible.”.When Parliament in 2016 introduced the Canada Child Benefit to pay tax-free grants of up to $6,946 per child fully, 12% of eligible families never filed a tax return to claim it. “Potential barriers to filing include a lack of understanding of the relationship between filing an income tax return and benefit eligibility,” said the briefing note.
