The Liberal dental care bill passed third reading in the House of Commons on Thursday, despite opposition from the Conservatives and Bloc.
The vote ended with 172 deputies in favor and 138 against. The elected Conservatives and Bloc Québécois voted against.
Once passed into law, after Senate approval and Royal Assent, this bill will allow families with an income of less than $90,000 a year to receive up to $650 per child for their dental care.
In order to receive this amount, families will need to register through the Canada Revenue Agency and confirm that they have booked a dental visit for their child, that they do not have private insurance and that they will have to pay for the appointment themselves.
Families will also need to keep their receipts, in anticipation of a possible audit.
Dental benefits are one of the most important points of the confidence agreement between the Liberal government and the NDP. The Liberals promised to launch a dental insurance program by the end of the year, starting with coverage for children in low- and middle-income families.
But since they didn’t have time to do so, they preferred to go ahead with a benefit program that would send the money directly to families.
The government presented this program as an effective measure to deal with the rising cost of living. Bill C-31 also provides a one-time $500 grant for low-income tenants to help them deal with runaway inflation.
Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer, however, argued in the House of Commons that this measure will not have a concrete impact on people’s lives. According to him, distributing money could even contribute to aggravate the cost of living.
“We would be doing a much greater service to Canadians […] if we came here every day to try to cut government spending,” Scheer argued Thursday.
“We don’t want more inflationary spending that will only make the problem worse,” he added.
Bloc Québécois MP Jean-Denis Garon said he had the impression that the bill was rushed and that parliamentarians had not had time to speak and hear experts give their opinion. .
The government still intends to introduce a dental insurance plan to fulfill its commitment to the NDP, but no details have yet been released.