(Ottawa) Five years after becoming leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Jagmeet Singh says his work has only just begun. Recent gains his party has secured from the Trudeau government, including the creation of a national dental program for low-income families, have him pressing the accelerator even harder to fight social inequality.
Posted at 12:00 a.m.
In his eyes, there is no more powerful symbol of social inequalities in the country than access to dental care. The new agenda, part of the deal struck in March between Jagmeet Singh and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ensuring the survival of minority Liberals in the Commons until June 2025, is beginning to take shape.
When fully implemented within three years, the program will allow some nine million Canadians to see a dentist and receive publicly paid care.
According to Jagmeet Singh, access to dental care expands the work of Tommy Douglas, former NDP premier of Saskatchewan and former federal leader of the NDP, considered the founder of universal health care.
“This program is going to make a huge difference in the lives of millions of Canadians,” Singh said in an interview with The Press in his office on Parliament Hill. During his recent tours of the country, he was able to see this. “In Quebec, a taxi driver said to me: ‘It’s you, the guy from the NDP who wants to have a program for the teeth! That’s good for us,’” he said.
In Burnaby, I saw a person who hid his mouth when he spoke to me, he was so embarrassed that he didn’t have good teeth. When we talk about social inequalities, there is no symbol more striking than the lack of access to dental care.
Jagmeet Singh, leader of the NDP
During a recent meeting in Ottawa, the CEO of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario told him that the treatment of dental problems ranks first among procedures for young children. The dental care program will considerably reduce this type of intervention in the long term.
Mr. Singh is also pleased to have convinced the Trudeau government to offer assistance to the less well-off who are having difficulty making ends meet because of the rising cost of living. The GST tax credit will thus be doubled for a period of six months and nearly two million Canadians will obtain $500 in housing assistance, as demanded by the NDP.
“We have demonstrated that in difficult times, the NDP makes a difference. During the pandemic, every support that people received, we played a big role in setting it up,” said Singh.
He cited the example of the creation of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit and the wage subsidy program for businesses — two emergency measures that the NDP called for in the first weeks of the pandemic.
“At the start of the crisis, the Liberal government claimed that the employment insurance program would be sufficient. But this program only covers 40% of workers. We have forced the government to improve emergency aid. »
Use your “own experiences”
Growing up, Jagmeet Singh lived in poverty. Sick, his father could no longer work. He has already answered calls where, at the end of the line, we demanded payment of an invoice. “My mother was afraid to answer sometimes. I had to do it for him and make arrangements. At 20, he moved into an apartment with his younger brother. His mother had asked him to take care of him. He was working three retail jobs to make ends meet, sometimes working seven days a week while studying at university.
“It is part of my values to help the most vulnerable people. I used my own experiences to point out to the Prime Minister that some of the programs would be insufficient. In the case of students, the Prime Minister told me during a conversation that it would be difficult, but that they could have financial assistance from their parents. I replied that it was not possible in many cases. And I told him my story.
“I have been through difficult times in my life. And today, that motivates me. We have beautiful dreams and good plans. […] Five years later, we are stronger in the NDP. Imagine what we could do if we were the government. »