Liberals agree to launch dental care program in exchange for NDP support

The Liberals have agreed to launch a new dental care program for low-income Canadians in exchange for the NDP supporting their government until 2025.

According to a release from the Prime Minister's Office, the proposed program would start with 12-year-olds in 2022, then expand to under-18-year-olds, seniors and persons living with a disability in 2023. Full implementation would be rolled out in 2025. 

The dental program, a key plank of the NDP's 2020 campaign platform, would be restricted to families with an income of less than $90,000 annually, with no co-pays for anyone under $70,000 annually in income, said the government.

The deal would also see a Canada Pharmacare Act passed by the end of 2023 to task the National Drug Agency to develop a national formulary of essential medicines and a bulk purchasing plan by the end of the agreement. 

The agreement also commits the Liberals to pass a Canada Pharmacare Act by the end of 2023, asking the National Drug Agency to develop a national formulary of essential medicines and bulk purchasing plan by the end of the agreement.

On housing, another key issue for the NDP, the government has agreed to extend the rapid housing initiative for an additional year and look at changing the definition of affordable housing.

While the Liberals have signed multiple child-care agreement with the provinces, the NDP is asking them to now introduce an Early Learning and Child Care Act by the end of 2022 to enshrine those agreements into law and to make sure they have long-term protected funding prioritizing non-profit and public spaces.

'We want it to be like Medicare," said one NDP source with knowledge of the deal.

The confidence-and-supply agreement was presented to NDP MPs for a vote late Monday night. Under such arrangements, an opposition party agrees to support the government on specific measures under specific conditions, and to not vote to defeat the government for a period of time.

The agreement comes into effect Tuesday and would last until Parliament rises in June of 2025. Both sides agreed that the leaders would meet once per quarter, the House leaders will meet regularly and that they'd hold monthly "stock take" meetings by an oversight group made up of staff and politicians.