Media Release for July 14, 2007

NDP candidate Stairs calls for dental insurance coverage for working families in Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke

RENFREW, Felicite Stairs, Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke NDP candidate in the October provincial election, today joined Ontario NDP leader Howard Hampton in calling for a new provincial program which will cover the cost of basic dental work for Renfrew’s children and working families who don’t have costly private dental insurance.

“Poor teeth for children lead to poor health and even unemployment over the years,” says Stairs. In her work she frequently deals with clients who have trouble landing jobs because “During interviews, they don’t want to open their mouths because their teeth are so bad.” She says it is not fair for poor children to have to live all their lives with problems like this.

“This election must be about fairness.” Stairs said. “And it’s just not fair that if you have an ear infection, you can get it treated free of charge but if you have an infected tooth or gum, you have to pay large sums of money to get treatment. Our families deserve better than that. Working people shouldn’t see their finances torn apart by their children’s dental needs.”

The NDP wants to spend $100 million a year to provide better access to dental care. This would cover check-ups, fillings, extractions, and emergency care through community dental teams, like other health care provided by community health centres and family medical teams. It would ensure that those who don’t have dental coverage could get proper care for themselves and their children.

“It’s part of the overall NDP philosophy of putting families first,” Stairs said. “In Renfrew County, not a lot of employers provide dental plans. If you work in an uninsured job, or you’re self-employed, you can face crippling fees for private insurance. That’s not fair. The NDP plan levels the playing fields for working families, and protects their children.”

Stairs says providing proper basic dental care is cost-effective. “Untreated dental problems can cause more serious physical problems, like heart disease, diabetes, inflammatory illnesses, and overall poor health. For the sake of our families, we need to close this gap in public health coverage. As it is, poor dental health is becoming a silent epidemic.”

Ontario currently spends very little on dental health, says Stairs. “This means that the provincial government is only meeting about 2% of the total cost of dental care. That’s the lowest rate of any province in Canada. And when you consider that Canada as a whole is second-last among developed countries in providing public dental care, that’s a very sorry state of affairs for a wealthy province like ours to be in.”

Stairs says Ontario needs to better protect working families and their children “by increasing the feeble provincial commitment to proper dental care, so that cost isn’t a factor in whether or not people get the treatment they need. That’s what the principles of medicare an NDP developed program are all about. Just as the NDP fought successfully to bring medicare to all Canadians, so we will fight to complete the program by ensuring access to basic dental health needs. That’s only fair and fairness is the NDP’s whole campaign theme. Dalton McGuinty’s priority might be raising his own salary, but the NDP’s priority will always be people’s health and social needs.”

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