Canadians should think twice about ‘big government” programs
Since March of 2022 the Liberal Government has been in a “confidence and supply” agreement with the NDP.
The NDP will keep the Liberal Government in power until the next scheduled election in fall of 2025 in exchange for prioritizing key parts of the NDP’s socialist agenda.
In short, Justin Trudeau has bought their support with Canadians picking up the bill.
So far, they have brought forward four NDP priorities: dental care, “anti-scab” legislation, paid sick leave, and reached an agreement for a new national pharmacare plan.
Universal dental care and pharmacare sound nice but Liberal-NDP talking points rarely reflect the reality and shortcomings of these programs.
Canadians should be allowed to see the fine print before agreeing to fund another big government program.
Let’s start with dental care.
$13 billion initially and an annual cost of roughly $4.4 billion.
The fact that 2/3 of Canadian households already have dental coverage (making a universal government plan unnecessary) aside, I recently had a conversation with a dentist who expressed concern that the Liberal NDP coalition were lying to Canadians about their new dental care plan.
The pitch from the government has been simple, kids under 12 and now seniors with a household income under $90,000 are eligible for the new coverage program.
While this program will benefit some families, there is a lot of fine print that Canadians should be aware of.
The first is, if you have existing coverage or access to coverage, you are ineligible. If you give up your existing plan, you are ineligible.
Second, dental care is not part of provincial health care apparatuses. It is a private business. Under the plan it appears you can only go to specific dentists who have agreed to the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP), limiting your choice of dentist. The fact that the majority of Canadian dentists oppose the plan and have yet to enroll will further limit your freedom to choose.
Third, your dentists can bill you for the balance between what the CDCP pays and what the dentist ultimately charges, so you are still paying out of pocket. If they choose not to do so, they are paying out of pocket for the government’s failures and risking foreclosure. Hardly fair to either side.
Fourth, while it is true Canadians at the $90,000 per year income mark or less qualify, anyone over $70,000 will not be eligible to receive the benefit in full. Those who earn $70-79,000 will only qualify for 60% of the coverage and those $80,000 and above will only be eligible to receive 40% of the coverage.
Then there’s Pharmacare.
Price tag: About $40 billion (about $13.4 billion annually moving forward).
Again, there is no need for a big government program here.
80% of Canadians already have access to prescription drug coverage.
Had the government proposed a modest program to provide coverage for those less fortunate Canadians who do not have access to coverage, or better yet allowed the provinces to fulfill their constitutional mandate to deliver healthcare and funded provincial efforts, I dare say
Conservatives could have supported it.
Instead, we have another big government top-down approach that could see Canadians lose their existing coverage or have to settle for less. All so Jagmeet Singh can move Canada further in the socialist direction and Justin Trudeau can maintain his grip on power.
Moreover, this is the same government that can’t get a passport printed in a timely manner.
Ask public servants how the Phoenix pay system or the switch over to a different insurance provider has worked out.
Do we really trust them to re-vamp our healthcare?
Canadians don’t need more bureaucrats “administrating healthcare”. We need healthcare!
Millions of Canadians don’t have a doctor and struggle to get basic healthcare services.
Trudeau promised 7,500 new doctors and nurses. Where are they?
What about $4.5 billion for mental healthcare, an exponentially greater need—especially post-COVID restrictions.
The reality is this Liberal-NDP costly coalition is more interested in power and self-interest than in the health needs of Canadians.
Justin and Jagmeet just aren’t worth the cost.
Canadians can’t afford more big government programs. Many are struggling just to feed and house themselves.
Conservatives want Canadians to have great healthcare.
Instead of pie-in-the-sky programs we’ll bring in targeted, commonsense reforms like credential recognition for doctors and nurses and focus on funding frontline care.
We’ll bring home healthcare for Canadians.