According to the much-publicized letter sent by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday, Alberta plans to opt out of Ottawa’s new Canadian Dental Care Plan by 2026 because the plan replicates programs the province already has in place.
But how does the Alberta Government propose to go about “opting out” of a program it’s not in now, doesn’t fund, doesn’t administer, and doesn’t control in any way?
Speaking to the CBC, federal Health Minister Mark Holland yesterday called the premier’s letter “trolling for conflict,” which is fair enough.
But it’s also a textbook example of how the UCP repeatedly plays the media, the commentariat, Opposition politicians, and often the federal government too with policy statements that are made out of nothing but hot air.
After all, the federal dental care plan for seniors and children that was announced on May 1 is already fixing teeth in all parts of Canada.
Indeed, when I typed my address into the CDCP’s online provider search form last night, it instantly gave me the names of 14 participating dentists less than five kilometres from my home.
There are only three parties to the plan: The federal government, dentists who agree to participate, and eligible patients.
Alberta opting out of the CDCP because it has some dental programs it claims to be superior would be a bit like Alberta threatening to drop out of the Order of Canada because it says the Alberta Order of Excellence is better. Alberta has no role in that federal program either. If Ms. Smith wrote a letter like Tuesday’s to the Governor General about the Order of Canada, the GG would have to drop her a line telling her (more politely, presumably) that it’s none of her beeswax.
If you bother to drill into the premier’s letter – as painful as a trip to the dentist, I grant you – you’ll discover that there’s a catch to the premier’s threat, statement of intention, or whatever she wants us to think her letter is.
First, as usual when the UCP complains about federal programs, we discover that the Alberta government wants the dough with no strings attached to use as it pleases. “Alberta is seeking to negotiate an agreement for the province’s share of federal dental funding and will use this unconditional funding to expand dental coverage for more low-income Albertans. We anticipate our respective officials can negotiate mutually agreeable terms within a two-year timeframe and plan to opt out by 2026.”
So Alberta wants to negotiate the agreement it will opt out of, which does not now exist!
The federal government would be foolish to bother for several reasons.
First, it doesn’t need to. The program already exists and is operating. More dentists need to sign up, but there is nothing the Alberta government can legally do to prevent that. Why waste time on a bunch of grifters who are in effect demanding their cut?
Second, any separate agreement would immediately undercut the universality of the national plan. This is, of course, a goal, because Conservatives hate public services and can be counted on to try to undercut them from the get-go, with especial vigour when they are new and still vulnerable. It also plays to the UCP’s increasingly open separatist inclinations, which is why this government opposes any policy that illustrates the value of Canadian citizenship.
Third, as indicated by the final line of the letter – “we look forward to successfully negotiating an agreement that enables Alberta to continue providing access to dental care” – the UCP wants all the credit while Ottawa pays all the bills.
So … what? They’re going to dump Alberta’s limited program if Ottawa doesn’t cough up the cash? That, of course, would be punishing Albertans to own the Libs.
Or do they just want to say it’s not their fault when Pierre Poilievre comes along and shuts down the plan for ideological reasons?
As University of Calgary political science professor Lisa Young put it on her Substack today, when Mr. Poilievre is finished axing the tax, he’s bound to turn to killing the fillings. It’s not as if he’s going to be able or inclined to do anything about high rents and the housing shortage without offending his benefactors.
For its part, the Alberta Dental Association said in a statement that Alberta’s programs are “outdated and often limit timely access to oral health care for patients.” The association said it is “concerned that the Government of Alberta’s decision to opt out of the federal Canadian Dental Care Plan, without further details, makes an already complex situation even more confusing for both patients and dentists.”
So, clearly, the Trudeau Government should tell Ms. Smith to get lost.
If the prime minister acted tough with her for once, it might actually enhance his government’s re-election chances, slim though they may be right now.
Since it’s too much to hope for an NDP Government in Ottawa, the Liberals’ likely Conservative successors deserve to have to pay the political price for shutting down what is sure to quickly become a popular program.
Ahh Premier Dani is rattling her chains again, spoiling for another fight.
Smith and the UCP must be having a really bad day, they are usually better at their communications, as glib and misleading as it often can be. The problem here is they are really shooting themselves in the foot. First they want to take away seniors CPP and now they are going after their new dental benefits. Its enough to make a reliable UCP voting senior want to stay at home, you know like a Toronto liberal.
So the UCP better be careful about talking about ending a program that they are actually not part of, unless they want all the blame instead of all the credit.
As for Trudeau, I suspect he has enough of his own more serious problems to worry about, so he will probably just ignore the continued quacking from Smith as he often does. If he wants to really drive her more daffy than she is already, he can earnestly say something about wanting to consider ways of meaningful collaboration and leave it at that.
Poilievre has been unusually and suspiciously silent about what he will do with the new dental program if elected. It may be too popular for him to ditch it, but I suspect if he has to continue to pay for it, he will not be eager to give all the credit to Smith either.
So tough luck here Danielle, thats the breaks sometimes when you speak before you think.
So the link to :Mark Holland saying she’s “trolling for conflict ” comes with a picture of MH, that made me burst out laughing, it’s spot on. LOL
Side bar- at least your dental pic comes with ‘ courtesy’ of note , unlike the Saskatchewan Party’s pic – which in attempt to troll the NDP , used a pic taken in Russia*…..
Regina ctv news:
Sask. Party catches heat after using Russian stock….
Or
Saskatchewan NDP Caucus
“Reality Check: Scott Moe’s Russian Summer”
— coming on the heels of his ‘ “Chem-trails” back peddling story, not a good look. .
*I guess no one in his caucus has a camera to take pics of the wheat fields in Saskatchewan?
(And kudos to the NDP there, they obviously have some bright lights on staff.)
Danielle Smith once again proves how out of touch with reality that she really is. She has a gullible following that goes along with whatever she says, without doing any fact checking. The results are that we are no better off.
Conservative cruelty knows no bounds, similar to the lack of critical thinking from their voters.
I wonder what Sun Life will have to say when they loose the admin fees from this?
Roger: Good point. That’s what lobbyists are for. DJC
Agreed, Trudeau should tell Dingy Smith to get lost. I got my dental coverage card a couple days ago and nowhere on the card does it have the word Alberta on it. The couples income cap for Alberta Blue Cross is around $63000, where the income cap for couples on the Federal program is $90000. As a couple of seniors making more than $63000 a year the so called Alberta program does absolutely nothing for me, in spite of Dingy claiming it is such a great program. With the Federal one at least I will be able to get some benefit. The absolute nothing benefits to seniors in Alberta appears to a common theme with the UCP. Obviously Smith wants more money from the feds to further line the pockets of the oil & gas folks, and has no interest in making life better for regular Albertans.
In other words, “Some of you may not get the dental coverage/treatment you need, but it’s a sacrifice I am willing to make.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7jdJ8vPCl8
Because, “We know the federal government, on certain issues, has a diametrically opposed view to what it is we want to do.” Smith went on to accuse the federal government of imposing “an ideological agenda” while insisting her government is not doing the same. “When we do spending, it doesn’t have an ideological tinge to it.”
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/ideological-tinge-alberta-to-require-provincial-approval-before-municipalities-other-entities-strike-deals-with-ottawa
From pathos to bathos in one tawdry act.
I have no love for the bigoted UCP government but healthcare is in the provincial portfolio and this country would be better off if the federal government concentrated on their own responsibilities instead of instituting vote-purchasing programs.
Nonsense. If it weren’t for Ottawa stepping in we would have no national standards for health care. “Vote-purchasing programs” often purchase votes because they fill a real need, as in this case. Cons do exactly the same thing, although usually with boutique tax breaks, which do nothing to benefit the country and usually make it poorer. Canada’s original Constitution, the BNA Act, was written to ensure we had a strong federal government and weaker provincial governments for just this reason, the dangers of what happens when you don’t being pretty damn obvious in 1867.
Sorry, not letting you hang this out here. Not having dental care costs the Canadian health care system untold amounts of money, and it’s fiscally prudent for the federal government that is footing the bill to fund dental care.
Poor oral hygiene leads to more serious health interventions, emergency services, chronic health care issues and premature death. All of these things cost the taxpayer more than folks having access to dental care that is a preventative measure against them. Not to mention the improvement in the quality of life of all Canadians, and the increased economic productivity of having a healthy population that doesn’t need costly and long term intervention in their health.
Like I dunno pretty sure a triple bypass costs more than a tooth cleaning, is a root canal cheaper than chemo therapy? Asking for a friend.
It’s a shared responsibility between feds and P/Ts. Feds fund, P/Ts administer. Also feds provide health care directly to First Nations/Inuit, military and RCMP.
The Ads that appear on today’s blog are for dental clinics.
Norm: Google ads are selected by Google’s proprietary, now AI driven, algorithm. One of the factors is the topic of the blog. Other factors are what the reader has been looking up that Google can track, and maybe what the algorithm has concluded the reader will be looking up next. So everyone’s ads are likely to be different, at least part of the time. First thing this morning, mine, like yours, were advertising dental clinics. Right now Google is advertising roofers on my browser. No idea why. My roof is fine … I think. DJC
This is PMJT’s masterplan: the UCP keeps screwing Alberta over and over again that the whole province votes Liberal. Okay. Fat chance of that happening, but it’s still a great plan. And If Queen Danielle is willing to ay along with it, all the better.
Seriously, unless the mission is to make sure Alberta is rat and tooth free, this may just work.
And the Oilers really suck now.
Just: It’s worse than that. The Oilers don’t suck. They’re great. But they’ll keep losing in the last game of the playoffs anyway until the Boyle Street Curse in eliminated. There’s only one way to do that: Pay the lousy $5 million they owe. DJC
Oh flip, I knew there was a connection. I figured the communists at the UN confining us to the Ice District were at fault, but that makes so much more sense!
Edmonton was denied an appearance in the playoffs, since the 2006 final again the Canes, because the furor of the celebrations lead to rioting and violence that nearly burned the city down. And this year, a final victory is denied because the Oilers’ ownership denied promised funding for inner city community works projects that would have brought relief to many.
The Hockey Gods frown upon dishonesty, subterfuge, and cowardice. The Leafs will never get the Cup again because they have committed all those transgressions. As for the Oilers, they are no better than the Leafs in this regard.
The Oilers will be moved to Portland, OR and renamed the Ospreys. That same year, they will win the Cup.
And the Hockey Gods laughed…
Just: The Ospreys? The Buckaroos, shurely! DJC
The “boil” curse came out on the day of game 7,when PP for the first time X’d for them to bring the cup back to Canada, as if he cared!
_____________________________
Liberal MP’S were out in different provinces, promoting the dental plan/CTV news.
IMO, Marlaina/ UCP/ TBA/Con-servatives don’t care about seniors or children.
Seniors according to all the algorithms are the easiest to scam, and children don’t vote (unless you’re part of the UCP, then 14.. and your parents can use your vote if you’re registered.
Parental rights got a whole new meaning with that one.
Since we don’t know (?) what exactly the Con-servatives have re-written their caucus policies to be, those big families could come in handy come leadership time- ” family values “….But then again, it could be that Skippy & Marlaina have just made me very, very skeptical.
Do I think Skippy will get rid of the CPP, in a heart-beat especially if he can find a way to keep his pension entitlement intact-another 300 page omnibus bill?
–Do I think he’ll go after
OAS/ GIS ?
–Do bears ____in the woods?–Do snakes have forked
tongues ?
And Princess of Alberta is just biding her time. After all she has Bill 11(?) in her dosier– yes we will have a referendum, but I don’t have to act on it.
Everything done right now is a stall tactic, distraction, deflection until the election.
It’s kind of like opting out of the Canada Pension Plan, except in that case, instead of having zero stake in the plan, the province at least pays the employers’ share of contributions for provincial employees. Smith could opt out for provincial employees only, and leave the rest of us alone. Canadians living in Alberta might not want to work for the Alberta government if she did, but isn’t that what the 250,000 non-Canadian temporary foreign workers in this country are for?
It’s hard to believe that people across the country will foolishly vote against their own interests as Albertans have done, but that’s what we’re told. Perhaps I was right when I said here some time ago that certain politicians need voters to get reinfected with Covid over and over again in order to suffer brain damage. The rise to power of bozos and authoritarians across the world seems to have proven my point.
Abs: Count on it, if the UCP succeeds in taking over the Alberta portion of the CPP, whatever that turns out to be (not the 53 per cent the UCP claims, obviously), Ms. Smith or one of her successors (and not necessarily just in the UCP) will try to turn it into a “Target Benefit Plan,” in which the pension guarantee is not honoured in the event the plan is not fully funded. This is what Alison Redford tried to do to Alberta’s public sector pensions, and failed. The next step could be to make it easier for Albertans to opt out of the APP, resulting in a reduction of newcomers to the plan and the plan not being fully funded. Then pensions could be reduced on the grounds of “fiscal responsibility,” impoverishing some people but, importantly, creating an incentive for more to leave the plan, compounding the problem until a state pension fails and can be eliminated completely. It’ll never happen here? Don’t bet on it. DJC
Premier Daniel smith into chaos ,who would have thought ? Albertans and dental fees ,twice as much as B.C.
2 for me ,one for you program we know very well ,thieves within stealing children again
The feds could do more to better promote their programs. Most Canadians, including this Albertan, don’t know much, if anything about the program, let alone that it’s in place.
I’m reminded of when Obama got Medicare in the US, his VP Biden urged him to do a victory lap. Obama didn’t and punters reckon he lost an election over lack of understanding by the public about this historic program.
Where are all those promotional pop-ups like Smith uses for all of her so called initiatives?
The Libs have failed miserably in latter years in communications. No wonder Smith gets away with so much grandstanding. She is all hot air, no substance while the Libs are mostly the opposite.
Agreed, MI. Even honest politicians need to express enough hot air to float a small balloon. The Alberta NDP suffered from the same affliction. DJC
Let’s hope Nenshi does better. Smith’s all media Nenshi attack ads are already out. ABNDP is going to have to be super strategic to defeat the Dragon Lady.
Agree. My biggest complaint about the federal government (and the ABNDP) in the last year is the lack of CLEAR communication. Another is the lack of fact-checking from MSM – and those who just parrot UCP talking points.
If you watch the news you would know what it’s about. It’s out there.
She quite literally cannot opt out this purely performative & it’s already biting her in the rear
Premier Daniel smith into chaos ,who would have thought ? Albertans and dental fees ,twice as much as B.C.
2 for me ,one for you program we know very well ,thieves within stealing children again
UCP hate marginalized communities ,and really hate children so it makes sense
While these ignorant Reform Party supporters continue to try to come up with their ridiculous excuses to support Smith’s stupidity blaming everything on the Liberals and Trudeau I’m reminded of what a lawyer friend said years ago. “ There is nothing dumber than a guy going around bragging about being a great Conservative and bashing Liberals while he is the one dumb enough to be supporting one. Wouldn’t a skunk smell the same if you called it a cat? So why would a Reformer be any different if you called him a Conservative? These fools will do anything to get elected even if it means changing parties like they did and Danielle Smith did also, didn’t she?”
He was referring to Klein always bragging about being a Liberal and Kenney being a well know one in Saskatchewan, and the Danielle Smith and Jim Prentice Gong Show. Funny how their supporters have conveniently forgotten that haven’t they.
When the information about the $5M owed to Boyle Street first came out, I messaged OEG saying that until it was paid, I would no longer buy 50/50 tickets from them. A minuscule protest, as I had been spending the least amount of money possible to play, but perhaps we could start a movement?
When I’m not gnashing my teeth at the UCP’s constant hostility toward the federal government, I’m shaking my head. It is like watching a toddler have a never ending tantrum. That said, AB Blue Cross (dental) recently decided it would no longer cover a dental appliance (upper and lower jaw mouth guard) for people with mild* sleep apnea. So, I have to wonder at the timing of Smith picking another fight with Ottawa and Blue Cross announcing this change.**
* My husband snores like a freight train and stops breathing, periodically, if he doesn’t wear his mouth guard at night.
** We’re lucky. We’ve always had good medical/dental benefits. But in another five years we’ll be relying on a national dental care program. That is if the federal CPCs don’t pull a Kenney and repeal it.
On a side note: what in the blazes does Tanya Fir mean by compassionate conservatism?
SF: There was no such thing as “compassionate conservatism” when one of George Bush II’s PR guys cooked up the phrase, and there’s certainly no such thing now in Canada since all the Red Tories, who were never very red, have been purged from the Con movement. DJC
To cut off your nose to spite your face
D smith will do whatever she can to trash Ottawa she will and is putting her party needs over what’s best for albertans. I think they want to run Alberta as a business not as a province. What do the rest of Canada thinking about the opt out
Read the article and burst out laughing. OMG Smith can not be serious or playing with a full deck. O.K. she maybe serious, but who is going to take her seriously. I know you’re not making this up, that it is true. No one would believe you made this up, but really, they voted this party into office?
So she wants money. Nice try, but if she wants to take Alberta out of Canada why would the feds give Alberta a nickel. As you write, its a federal program. People can join, they don’t need Smith’s permission to join the plan and there is nothing Smith can do to stop Albertans from using the plan or dentists joining either.
Would some one please check what the Premier of Alberta is putting on her corn flakes. Would not give Smith a nickel the government didn’t have to. Given some of her pronouncements, such as this one, I would not trust her to use the money wisely
Perhaps she made the statement to just get her name in the paper so the new leader of the NDP didn’t take up all the ink.
My thoughts on PP and social programs is: he will advise Canadians the programs all need to be cut so he can eliminate the deficiet. Of course that is the usual Con. line and then they run up deficeits greater than the Liberals.
If Canadians vote the Cons and PP into office, they are going to be very, very sorry because a lot of what we take for granted these days will be gone.
I believe that this have everything to do with the back room Take Back Alberta folks who yield the power to dogs Danielle what they did to Jason Kenney.
Then there is another side to this. Do the majority of the program’s eligible low income participants typically vote UCP?..
If an Alberta dentist can outfit me with a set of choppers like those in the picture I’m moving back to Calgary ASAP.
Tom: It’s not completely clear, but I would infer from the creator’s Flickr account that he or she is a dentist, travels widely, owns a residence in Panama, is from the United States. His/her photos of “meth mouth” are pretty horrific. But the smile shown, as you rightly point out, is spectacular. DJC
I have considered long and hard about what to be outraged about and my suspect synapses along with a a penchant for music have arrived upon this.. https://youtu.be/mFfN1ZHtge8
Oh my, LMAO– West Jet mechanics going on strike and
“Alberta Premier Danielle Smith “DEMANDING” that the Federal government take stronger action ” ( courtesy of Chek news) .
Sadly, I doubt that she sees the irony….sigh