Our Investigation Office specializes in the art of establishing the facts. Throughout the election campaign, our researchers present their findings to you to flush out the candidates’ surprising, dubious or downright false statements, and allow you to see them more clearly.
THE STATEMENT
The head of Québec Solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, was on Radio-Canada’s Tout un matin today to present his economic ideas.
During the interview, GND affirmed that “it is in Quebec that access to dental care is the most difficult and that it costs us the most”.
FACTS
This is false, based on the average cost per household paid for dental care from Statistics Canada’s Survey of Household Spending.
The latest data at this level dates from 2019, and shows that dental care cost Quebec households an average of $461.
The province is in third place behind British Columbia with $541 and Alberta with $536.
When questioned on the subject, Québec Solidaire claims to base itself on data from 2016 and 2017, which includes dental insurance.
If we redo the calculation with 2017 data, so with fees and insurance, Quebec is still not in first place. British Columbia is still in first place, with $598 per household, while for Quebec, the amount is $515.
Press officer Laurent Deslauriers maintains, however, that if we take the total costs and divide by the average income in 2016 and 2017, it costs “much more expensive in Quebec than elsewhere in Canada” and Quebec “occupies the top 1 or 2 depending on the year”.
- Spotted a false or questionable statement during the election campaign? Write to us at [email protected] and we will check the facts.