(OTTAWA) The liberal Dental Care Bill passed its third reading in the House of Commons on Thursday, despite opposition from the Conservatives and the bloc.
Posted at 8:49 p.m
Laura Osman The Canadian Press
The vote ended with 172 MPs in favor and 138 against. The elected Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois voted against.
After passage by the Senate and royal approval, this bill will allow families earning less than $90,000 a year to receive up to $650 per child for their dental care.
To receive this amount, families must register with the Canadian tax authorities 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 must also keep their receipts in anticipation of possible scrutiny.
Dental services are one of the main points of the confidence agreement between the Liberal government and the NDP. The Liberals pledged to launch a dental insurance program by the end of the year, beginning with coverage for children in low- and middle-income families.
But since they didn’t have time for that, they preferred to go ahead with an aid program that sends the money directly to the 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 subsidy for low-income renters to help them weather runaway inflation.
However, Conservative House Speaker Andrew Scheer argued in the House of Commons that this measure will have no tangible impact on people’s lives. According to him, handing out money could even help raise the cost of living.
“We would be doing Canadians a much greater service […] 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 felt the bill was rushed and that lawmakers had not had time to speak and hear pundits’ opinions.
The government still intends to introduce a dental insurance plan to meet its commitment to the NDP, but no details have been released.