(Ottawa) The Conservatives take a dim view of the bill on dental care tabled Tuesday by the Trudeau government in the wake of the agreement with the New Democratic Party which allows him to stay in power until 2025.
Posted at 12:07 p.m.
“They’re going to send checks to certain people and that’s something that’s clearly outside the jurisdiction of the federal government. Health is a provincial responsibility,” Conservative health critic Michael Barrett said as he entered the national caucus on Wednesday morning.
It’s “not a dental plan anyway,” he noted, blaming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for refusing “for more than two years” to meet with premiers to discuss health care in Canada.
Bill C-31 aims to allow the government to pay up to $650 per child per year to families earning less than $90,000 to help pay for dental costs for their children under 12 .
The temporary program, which is to run for two years, is one of the main elements of the “support and confidence agreement” between Liberals and New Democrats. Ottawa estimates that these tax-free payments will help about 500,000 children and that the measure will cost 938 million.
According to Mr. Barrett, Mr. Trudeau simply wants to “honor a takeover agreement he has with the NDP”.
However, he said, more than 70% of Canadians are already “covered” for dental care and “a majority” of provinces and territories have measures in place to support low-income people who need to have access to a dentist.
The checks that will be distributed “will evaporate” due to the “inflationary policies” of the Trudeau government, said Mr. Barrett who believes that it would be more efficient not to increase taxes.
In his first question in the House of Commons as Leader of the Official Opposition on Tuesday, Pierre Poilievre called on the government to drop the “paycheque tax” increase on 1er January in reference to the increase in Employment Insurance and Canada Pension Plan premium rates.
These are indeed taxes, reiterated Mr. Barrett when questioned by the parliamentary press. “Every time Canadians bring in less money at the end of the month and that money goes to the government, it’s a tax,” he said. And the government can choose when it collects them. »
Bill C-31 has a second component that provides $500 to help low-income Canadians pay their rent. This is one-time assistance estimated at $1.2 billion, which is a supplement to the Canada Housing Benefit.
And another bill tabled Tuesday aims to double the GST credit for six months for those who already receive it.
The Conservatives still have not taken a position on these bills. In particular, they were to discuss it in caucus on Wednesday morning.