Mr. Speaker, the Canadian dental care plan exists because New Democrats fought for it. We pushed the government to deliver this benefit to millions of Canadians, many of whom could not afford to see a dentist before, and now Danielle Smith wants to take this program away from Albertans. She wants to pull Alberta out and have the federal government hand the money directly to her. This comes mere days after Albertans voted “no” to this in the referendum. They voted for better access to federal programs, not worse.
Let us be clear. The Canadian dental care plan is a fully federally funded and administered insurance plan, so the very idea of an opt-out should be absurd. The Prime Minister must refuse to hand over federal funding in a way that would allow Smith to dismantle the programs that New Democrats fought so hard for. All Canadians deserve dental care. New Democrats will continue to fight for it.