[calgarygeologist]

Dental groups reject Liberal claim that Conservatives are fuelling opposition to new plan — instead claiming it’s Ottawa spreading misinformation

The heads of several dental groups are rejecting a Liberal minister’s framing that the federal Conservatives are to blame for oral health providers’ opposition to aspects of Ottawa’s dental care plan.

The dismissal of Health Minister Mark Holland’s comments, which were made earlier this week, are the latest source of friction between Canada’s dental associations and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government over the rollout of what’s been deemed a “historic” dental coverage program.

Several dental association presidents told the Star that the Conservative party has nothing to do with their outstanding questions over implementing the plan, while Liberal and NDP messaging around the program do.

“There has been zero pressure, really, from the Conservatives on us in any kind of fashion that would result in the low uptake of dentists registering for the program,” said Dr. Robert Wolanski, president of the British Columbia Dental Association.

“The misinformation that has been provided has been provided almost solely by … the Liberal government and the NDP,” Wolanski said, of a program that was born out of the minority Liberals’ parliamentary alliance with the New Democrats.

During a news conference on Tuesday, Holland suggested that the country’s dental associations were “actively seeking” to oppose the plan because the Conservative party was against its success and was “calling these dental associations and screaming at them and getting angry at them.”

“If you’re a conservative party, (and) you want to run against taking dental care away, fine. But calling around and bullying and creating all of this negativity, you know, I think that’s what the underlying force is,” Holland said.

Both the Canadian Dental Association (CDA) and the Conservative party have denied the minister’s claims, which Holland says are rooted in fears that Pierre Poilievre would be at a political disadvantage should the program be viewed as a success.

https://www.thestar.com/politics/fed...cced7e9f8.html