A promised federal dentalcare program will cost Canadians nearly $4.6 billion a year by 2025, according to Parliamentary Budget Office figures..Blacklock’s Reporter says the introduction of free dentistry for 6.5 million Canadians is among terms of an alliance between Liberal and New Democrat MPs..“This is what working constructively is all about,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on March 22. He said the two parties “have agreed to work together” in the minority Parliament until June 30, 2025..A Supply And Confidence Agreement commits the federal government to fully implement a federal dentalcare program by 2025. Free dentistry would be offered to all households with income below $70,000 a year..Households with incomes ranging from $70,000 to $90,000 annually would see escalating user fees. The Budget Office in a 2020 report Cost Estimate Of A Federal Dental Care Program For Uninsured Canadians put expenses at $4.6 billion in the first full year of implementation and an average of $1.5 billion annually on an ongoing basis..“We estimate that close to 6.5 million Canadians will benefit from the proposed program during the first year,” analysts wrote. The Budget Office estimated 32% of Canadians, or 12 million people, have no dental insurance, though half earn more than the $90,000 dental care threshold..Interim Opposition Leader Candice Bergen said the program would cost Canadians billions of dollars. “Many Canadians already have private insurance they are paying for with their employer and have dental coverage.”.“Canadians did not vote for a national dental program and they certainly did not vote for an NDP-Liberal government,” Bergen said. “We are very, very concerned with the deficit and the fact that now having an NDP-Liberal government means the deficit will be even more out of control than it is.”.Bergen added that the NDP is “basically the government,” and that its leader Jagmeet Singh “is basically going to be the deputy prime minister.”.The Supply And Confidence Agreement guarantees cabinet a total of 184 votes in the 338-seat Commons for the life of the 44th Parliament. “Let that sink in,” said Bergen. “This is an NDP-Liberal government and they have the majority.”.Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet called the alliance “a false majority,” and said his caucus would not take direction from the prime minister. “We will never surrender what we are,” Blanchet said..“I would fear this is one of the strongest pushes in recent history towards centralization of jurisdiction and powers in the hands of the federal government against the will, and in some cases the unanimous will, of the provinces and territories,” Blanchet said..Matthew Horwood is the Parliamentary Bureau Chief of the Western Standard
