The Legault government does not want a Canadian dental plan. Less than 24 hours after the tabling of the federal budget which announced it in Ottawa, the Quebec Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, instead demanded a right of withdrawal with full compensation.
“Our preference would have been for additional amounts in health care. We said it, we repeat it. This is the priority for the Government of Quebec,” denounced Minister Girard, repeating that he considers the current federal funding insufficient. “It is certain that before creating new programs, we must adequately fund those we already have,” he criticized, in a press scrum at the National Assembly on Wednesday morning.
Quebec already covers dental care for children under 10 years old. The federal government of Justin Trudeau has reimbursed for its part since last year the dental care of children under 12 years of age. In his budget presented on Tuesday, Mr. Trudeau pledged to create a “Canadian dental care plan” which will extend this coverage by the end of the year to minors, the elderly and those living with a disability. This dental insurance will be available to all Canadians with an annual family income of less than $90,000 in 2025.
Ottawa “open” to discuss
Justin Trudeau did not slam the door at the request of Quebec. “I am open to having conversations with Mr. Legault,” he replied to them when he arrived in Parliament on Wednesday. Seeming to want to cut short a new dispute between Quebec and Ottawa, the Canadian Prime Minister insisted that “it is not a chicane”.
However, he suggested that any future negotiations should provide that Quebec still offers dental insurance to its citizens. “We made the decision that all Canadians would have access to dental care. […] If the provinces want to work with us to deliver to them, we will be there for those conversations. »
Its Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, was more direct, saying that any compensation should be reinvested by the Quebec government to offer the same dental care coverage as elsewhere in Canada. “Dental care is essential for both Quebecers and other Canadians,” he said.
Quebec otherwise satisfied
For the rest, Minister Girard welcomed the federal budget. He indicated that he sees with a “positive” eye the significant tax credits granted for the development of a green economy and the open door to Hydro-Quebec being able to benefit from them as well.
“These sums, for the production of clean hydroelectricity, will help. And the fact that Hydro-Québec is eligible for it is very good,” he commented. “We already knew the amounts we were going to receive in health care so I was already disappointed. But we were waiting for the news for the measures for the energy transition and these are good. »