Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Minister Duclos, thank you for being here. A chief argument against Bill C-31 here and in the House during the 11 hours that it was debated in the House has been that there are provincial government systems that are already in place, so I looked up some of them.
I'm familiar with the Ontario smiles program because I have constituents reaching out all the time whom it fails and leaves needing dental care, in many cases, emergency dental care, which is not often covered or the threshold for the eligibility on their income is exceeded. In Ontario, a family can earn no more than $27,000 with two children, and even with eight kids, the income limit is $38,000, so it's extremely low.
In Nova Scotia, which is far more comprehensive, it only includes one exam, two X-rays and one cleaning. I know that when I was a kid, I needed more than that at the dentist sometimes. This will support many families in my riding and certainly even some in provinces that already have a comprehensive program like Nova Scotia's, which I'd note is not the only Atlantic province.
It will also have an impact on backlogs in hospitals, because as you noted there are, in many cases, young kids at the hospital with an abscess or in need of a root canal who then have to wait for a dentist to come to the hospital. There are also a lot of people in my riding who have changes in work and, particularly recently, gig workers and self-employed Canadians who don't have insurance and earn less than 90,000 and will be eligible for this.
I'm actually surprised at the number of times as a local MP I've forwarded families with young kids to a dentist locally who will do it for free, despite the fact that the healthy smiles program has failed them. I also looked at the Nova Scotia website, which said, if any additional services are required, the dentist may charge for those at a private rate, which this program will account for.
Any consideration for all those families.... I note that Conservatives seem to hate means-tested programming. Any time there is a program that is sent out to people who really need it, families who don't have access, they either say it's not doing enough or we're spending too much money. I actually find this, when I do the math, quite reasonable—