With a federal election potentially just months away, the future of two of the Liberal government’s landmark social programs — dental and pharmacare — is unclear.
Two-thirds of the Canadians set to be covered under the new national dental insurance program are still not eligible. The federal government has also yet to sign a single deal with provinces and territories enabling Ottawa to pay for contraceptive and diabetes medications.
“Nothing is guaranteed. We’re in a volatile circumstance,” federal Health Minister Mark Holland acknowledged last week.
“I will be relentless in making sure that we finish,” he said. “I don’t think we need a lot of time to do it. We need a little bit more.”
But time is running out for Holland to see the two programs through, with the three major opposition parties vowing to bring down the Liberal government with a confidence vote as early as March, triggering …