Health Secretary Mark Holland has accused the Conservatives of “bullying” dental associations by calling them and trying to “sabotage” the Government's dental care program – an accusation the Conservatives have called “outrageous”.
The Liberals last month began covering dental services for seniors as part of a new federal dental care program.
The government has gradually expanded the program's reach over the past few months and has made adjustments to the program to encourage more dentists to participate.
So far, more than 40% of dental providers have participated in the program, Holland said at a press conference Tuesday.
Still, the Canadian Dental Association and provincial dental associations have expressed concern that patients don't always know they have to pay out of pocket for some services that aren't fully covered by government programs.
Holland said the association has worked to improve the program each time issues have been raised, but now it's time to “move forward.”
“Right now I'm frustrated because I don't really understand what their problem is,” he told reporters.
He said the association was “actively looking for problems” and blamed the Conservatives.
“Frankly, I think they're actively seeking it because the Conservatives don't want this to succeed and they're calling the dental association and screaming at them,” Holland said.
“I think that dental associations, who normally just deal with patients as dentists, suddenly find themselves dealing with fanatical Conservative members who are concerned that this plan will benefit our party and who want this plan to fail.”
He said he believes there is “recklessness” and “disorganization” in the current Conservative movement, which “seems more interested in breaking things and proving they're broken than in offering solutions”.
The Canadian Dental Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Opposition argues there's no one to blame but the Liberals themselves for dentists' reaction to the program.
“Canada's dentists, who provide health care to Canadians across Canada, are the ones accusing this NDP-Liberal government of implementing a broken dental care program and breaking promises to Canadians,” spokesman Sebastian Skamski said in a statement Tuesday.
“If Minister Holland is looking to blame anyone for yet another broken promise to Canadians, he should look back at himself, Jagmeet Singh and Justin Trudeau.”
More than 2 million seniors have registered for the program so far, with the government processing about 200,000 applications.
By the end of this month, the government plans to expand eligibility of the scheme to include eligible children under 18 and people receiving disability tax credit.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2024.
