Federal Health Minister Mark Holland insisted Wednesday on his desire to standardize the quality of dental care to which Canadians have access across the country when he was asked about the status of negotiations with Quebec regarding its right withdrawal with full compensation from the program launched by Ottawa.
“We are ready so that every person, everywhere in the country [puisse] receive dental care and it’s important not to block that,” he said in a press scrum.
Despite several questions aimed at clarifying what the sticking points would be in discussions with the Quebec government, Mr. Holland was content to say that “balance” and “quality of services” are equal throughout. the other from Canada were important for the federal government.
“It is always the case, when there are jurisdictional problems, that people in the street want the service,” said the minister, saying that it is in this “spirit” that he was when he discussed this issue with his Quebec counterpart in François Legault’s government, Christian Dubé. He said he was “certain” that a “solution” could be found in “this spirit”.
Mr. Holland appeared Wednesday in the foyer of the House of Commons in order to emphasize, in front of journalists, that the new federal dental reimbursement program will become accessible to more Canadians.
The benefit has already been available since the end of 2022 to cover dental fees received by children under 12 years old. Last December, seniors aged 77 and over received a letter inviting them to register to receive the benefit.
In February, it will now be the turn of people aged 72 to 76, said Mr. Holland, surrounded by other ministers such as that of Supply, Jean-Yves Duclos.
Expanding access to the program must then continue to be done gradually.
Quebec already has its own public dental insurance plan covering certain bills for children under 10 years old.
” This program [fédéral] completes the Quebec program [qui] does not cover preventative care. And in health, we know how important preventive care is,” declared Mr. Duclos when he was head of the Ministry of Health.
For its part, Prime Minister Legault’s office declared in 2022 that it was asking “the federal government for a transfer of money to improve [les] programs [du Québec] “.