Thanks very much.
First of all, hygienists in Canada are thrilled to have a national dental care plan for Canadians, especially vulnerable Canadians, because dental hygienists are focused on preventing disease before it happens. That's why we're very pleased to be listed as a provider along with dentists and denturists in this historic plan, so $13.5 billion was totally supported.
Is the plan perfect? No, but we didn't expect it to be, and government said it won't be perfect when it's launched, but they've committed to work with us.
As for the fee disparity, we have no idea why, but we have met with the minister, and he has committed to look at the pay equity issues, especially since we're a primarily female-dominated profession. It is an issue. It's very complex because it's based on fee guides in every province and it's based on frequency limitations, and we're looking at pre-authorizations.
We're looking at the 15% disparity. There are some other issues we're looking at, but government is listening. We're meeting on a weekly basis with them, so we're committed to working with them to ensure that the oral health of Canadians is enhanced.
That's our bottom line. We'd rather work with government than against government to ensure that we can improve access to oral health care for Canadians. That's been our position all along.
We don't expect it to be perfect, but we expect government to continue to work with us to get it somewhere where it's reasonable and fair.