Finance committee  I think the whole aspect of collaboration is extremely important, because I think we in dentistry view this as a very exciting opportunity. You have children in pain, disabled people who cannot smile and seniors who can't eat, so I think that if we keep in mind the overall goal of wanting to see the funding go into delivering care for those who need it the most and we operate in the spirit of collaboration and keep the bigger picture in mind, we will achieve a great outcome.

Finance committee  I think a very good example would be a person who is unable to access dental care for an immediate problem, such as a toothache. They have an infected tooth that either needs to have a root canal treatment or it needs to be taken out. If they're not able to get to a dentist and receive the care they need, they end up in the emergency ward of the local hospital.

Finance committee  Certainly we strongly recommend that the federal government implement this program through funding the existing provincial and territorial programs, which by and large operate well. They do reach the underserved populations, but for them it's a matter of funding. The federal contribution to the provincial programs has been almost non-existent.

Finance committee  Yes. I have four sentences left. I should have talked faster. I apologize to the committee. Recently, the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister said they looked forward to intergovernmental collaboration on dental care, as had recently taken place with child care. We have a historic opportunity to make a big difference in the oral health of millions of Canadians.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning to all the members of the committee. I am a dentist here in Toronto, and I am president of the Canadian Dental Association. My name is Lynn Tomkins. I am joined today by my colleague, our interim executive director at the Canadian Dental Association, Dr.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you very much. I'll be brief, because I'll defer to Dr. Poon as well, who's our technical adviser. Definitely as a provider it can be extremely frustrating, because you have a patient in the chair, they need the treatment, but you have to get pre-authorization or predetermination.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'll keep it short. I would say that, in terms of dentistry, since most of the treatment we do is very much on time, it would not be a cause for somebody.... It would be very unusual unless somebody had a cranial facial disorder, for instance a child, that needed a lot of surgical care, but again, that would be viewed as a temporary—maybe six months to one year—leave and not a permanent move away from the community.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. I would have to say that if you build it, they will come. I'm thinking of dental specialists, especially in things like oral and maxillo-facial surgical specialties, who require highly technical operating suites. If we were to see surgical centres in communities that have a high utilization of NIHB services, then you would have the oral and maxillo-facial surgical specialists as well as the dental anaesthesia specialists.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon, members of the committee. I am speaking to you from Toronto on the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat, the Haudenosaunee and the Anishinabe nations, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. I am pleased to be joined by Dr.