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 (CDCP) 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 United Conservative Party (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 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 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 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.
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Nick Seebruch, editor
