Jagmeet Singh Tells Trudeau Their Alliance is Over Unless NDP Dental Plan Created by End of 2022

It looks like Trudeau's alliance with the NDP is on the ropes, unless they make concessions.

“I made it very clear to the prime minister directly that this has to happen,” Singh says, in a telephone interview. “There is simply no option for them. This has to happen. The deal is based on this.”

Dental care is the core element of the deal Singh and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed this spring, which sought to ensure the Liberals stay in power for the next three years. Trudeau has promised to create a new $9 billion social programas well as actions on 24 other measures that include investments in housing, advances in pharmacare and emission cuts.

“This is the result of this year, 2022,” says Singh. “We have no room for any mistakes, we have no room for any exceptions.”

The NDP’s national director, Anne McGrath, has said the following. “I can’t see that being a scenario that happens,” she said recently when asked about a possible extension if the Liberals effort fell short.

Under the agreement, by the end of 2022, children in families earning less than $90,000 should have access to subsidized dental care, and those earning less than $70,000 have no copays. In 2023, the program must expand to include children under the age of 18, as well as seniors and people with disabilities. The entire program must be fully implemented by 2025.

Singh also added: “Two deliverables have to happen,” he says. “The $500 housing supplement for those receiving the Canadian Housing Benefit, that has to go out the door, and kids under 12 have to be able to take care of their teeth. Those are the two things that I was very adamant about in my meeting with the Prime Minister. And he understood very clearly that these things have to happen."