Thank you for that question.
Cost alone is not the only barrier for Canadians to access dental care, including children. We do appreciate this new program that's coming out. We feel that is a good start and look forward to continuing to work with the minister as we see things roll out.
Certainly, in remote and rural communities, there are challenges in terms of access, particularly with indigenous children, who sometimes live great distances from any centres that provide care.
We support all efforts to encourage dentists and dental staff to locate into remote and rural communities. As well, we are looking at building or creating surgical centres that are close to sites where the communities can access them, especially indigenous-led surgical sites, so children there don't have to be transported from Sachs Harbour down to Edmonton or Calgary to get their dentistry done.
We do appreciate any efforts, which could include things like loan forgiveness for dental graduates who are heavily indebted after leaving dental school, to encourage them to go to these areas.