NDP: Delivering dental care for your kids and putting money in your pocket

Canada’s NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced three measures to help families make ends meet

THUNDER BAY – On Tuesday, Canada’s NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced that New Democrats used their power to help families and their budgets by giving families with children under 12 $650 a year, per child, to get their teeth fixed and by putting money in people’s pockets with $500 to pay their rent and up to $467 to pay their bills. It’s clear that left to their own devices, the Liberals were never going to act, and the Conservatives think families should fend for themselves. These three life-changing measures for families are only because of months of efforts from the NDP.

“Families are having to decide to pay for dental care for their kids or pay their bills. No one should have to deal with the pain or lifelong damage of going without dental care. But today, too many Canadians end up in the emergency room because of dental problems that could be easily prevented,” said Singh. “Unfortunately for families, for years the Liberals voted with the Conservatives against dental care. Today, we’re announcing the first step of a dental care plan to make sure your kids can get their teeth fixed. But we’re not going to stop there, we’re going to keep fighting to make sure all Canadians can access comprehensive dental care as part of our healthcare system.”

For months, New Democrats have been pushing the government to act on inflation and the rising cost of living and for months, the government has said it’s not their fault and have left Canadians to fend for themselves. Had the Liberals recognized the urgency of the situation, these three measures could have been passed in the House last spring and people could have already seen these funds in their budgets.

The three measures New Democrats are delivering are:

• Dental care for kids under 12, $650 per child per year for two years as a permanent program is built in 2023.
• A $500 top up to the Canada Housing Benefit for almost two million people.
• Up to $467 top up to the GST Tax Credit for almost twelve million people.

“Families are playing by the rules, doing everything right, but still can’t get ahead. And the rising costs of housing, groceries, and gas for families – while big companies and the super-rich make billions off them in profits – is stretching family budgets even more,” added Singh. “It’s clear: without New Democrats, the Liberals were never going to put money back in your pockets. And despite talking about rising costs, the Conservatives are not interested in the fights that help you. New Democrats will always fight for you and your family – to help your kids with dental care, to help your family budget, and to help you get ahead.”

Key facts:

• Despite calling for inflation relief since early May, the Liberals had failed to move on any help to put money back in people’s pockets.
• The most common surgery performed on preschool children at most pediatric hospitals in Canada is treatment of dental decay.
• In Canada, an estimated one per cent of all emergency room visits in a given year are made by patients with non-urgent dental conditions, such as toothaches or tooth decay.
• Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government, voted with the Conservatives against the NDP’s motion to give millions of Canadians access to dental care, as a first step towards universal, public dental care twice just last year.