Minister accuses Tories of trying to sabotage federal dental program

OTTAWA — Health Minister Mark Holland is accusing the Conservatives of trying to “sabotage” the government’s dental care program by calling dental associations and “bullying” them — allegations the Tories call “outrageous.”

The Liberals began covering dental care for seniors last month as part of a new federal dental care program.

As the government has gradually expanded eligibility for the program in recent months, it has also made changes to the program in an effort to get more dentists on board.

So far, more than 40 percent of dental health providers have signed up for the program, Holland said at a news conference Tuesday.

However, the Canadian Dental Association and provincial associations have expressed concern, saying patients don’t always know they’ll have to pay out-of-pocket for some services that aren’t fully covered by the government program.

Holland said he has worked with the associations to improve the program each time they raised an issue, but now it’s time to “move on.”

“I’m in a frustrated position right now where I don’t really understand what their problem is,” he told reporters.

He said the associations were “actively looking” for trouble and blamed the Tories.

“I think they’re actively looking for it, if I could be really blunt, because the Conservative party doesn’t want this to go through and (is) calling these dental associations and yelling at them and getting angry at them,” he said Holland.

“I think the dental associations, which normally only deal as dentists with patients, are suddenly dealing with rabid conservatives who … want to see this program fail because they are concerned that it will benefit our party”.

He said he believes there is a “recklessness” and “chaos” in the conservative movement at the moment, which “seems to be more interested in breaking things to prove they are broken than providing solutions”.

The Canadian Dental Association did not directly address Holland’s allegations about the Conservatives, but said in a statement that the association has never explicitly instructed any oral health professional to oppose the program or discuss it with any political party.

“We strive to ensure that the patient and dentist visit is as positive as possible, with information to help educate patients with the necessary information they need before visiting a dental office,” the association said in a statement.

The opposition says the Liberals have no one to blame for dentists’ reaction to the program but themselves.

“Dentists across Canada, who provide care to Canadians across our country, are the ones calling out this NDP-Liberal government for delivering a broken dental program and breaking their promises to Canadians,” said spokesperson Sebastian Skamski in a statement on Tuesday.

“If Minister Holland is looking for someone to blame for yet another broken promise to Canadians, then he should look to himself, Jagmeet Singh and Justin Trudeau.”

The dental association said it had provided the government with advice on how to improve the program and recently sent a letter to outline remaining concerns.

The group said it looked forward to working with the government and “all political parties to ensure the program is positioned to best meet the needs of patients”.

More than two million seniors have enrolled in the program so far, and the government has processed about 200,000 applications.

The government is to extend eligibility for the scheme to eligible children under the age of 18 and people receiving a Disability Tax Credit at the end of the month.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 18, 2024.

Laura Osman, The Canadian Press