The new 2023 budget commits to $13 billion in funding over five years for the New Canadian Dental Care Plan, expanding public healthcare to provide dental coverage for middle- and low-income families. Dental care was the first item on the list of terms and conditions laid out between the federal NDP and the Liberal government in the Supply and Confidence Agreement made just a year ago in March 2022.
Among the promises made for a better healthcare system, dental care, along with commitment to passing a Canada Pharmacare Act by the end of 2023 and a Safe Long-Term Care Act, was made to be a condition of upholding the Parliamentary agreement. With the largest expansion of public healthcare in recent memory, to help us explain how this program came to be, we speak with Don Davies, Member of Parliament for Vancouver Kingsway, and federal NDP health critic. Listen to the full conversation.
