Naheed Nenshi’s first official act as Leader of the Alberta NDP was to defend Trudeau’s vote-buying dental scheme, seemingly unaware that the province already has a better program managed at home.
The provincial government of Alberta already provides a large portion of the Albertan population (more than what would be covered by Trudeau’s program) with dental coverage, filling the gap for children and vulnerable Albertans who can’t get coverage through work.
As noted by Premier Smith, “Alberta offers the most extensive, publicly funded dental coverage in Canada. Approximately 500,000 Albertans benefit from these dental plans, including low-income families and other vulnerable individuals such as children in care.
“Alberta began offering dental programs in 1973 and, since that time, has developed the expertise to successfully design, implement and maintain these much-needed programs.”
You’d think this would be celebrated by the federal government as a prime example of effective government or be cited as an inspiration for their own plan—after all, by the fed’s standards, Alberta is 50 years ahead of the curve on this—but no. Instead, Trudeau and his talking head, Naheed Nenshi, are straight-up lying about Smith’s priorities, painting a picture of a callous, unempathetic Conservative leader who refuses to see reason or work with others.
According to Nenshi, “It’s clear that the Premier’s decision to opt out of the federal dental program is about politics, not people. Access to dental care is critical and it’s a shame this government is putting their fight with Ottawa in front of the needs of Albertans.”
This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Not only would Trudeau’s dental program end up costing Albertans more than the provincial government’s program, but it would complicate the process greatly, with many Albertans double-qualifying for two different programs to cover the same thing and having to navigate needless additional bureaucracy.
Moreover, many Albertans with coverage now would lose their coverage and be deprived of dental care if Trudeau’s plan replaced Alberta’s, including kids, as Trudeau’s plan is working its way down from the elderly by age rather than strictly focusing on need.
Trudeau and especially Nenshi both know this. But they’re lying about it anyway, preying upon the ignorance of others in hopes of galvanizing the populace against the UCP.
It may be a good political strategy to garner additional votes on paper, but it’s disgusting in reality.
We recently published an opinion piece on Nenshi not really being an NDP socialist but a Liberal red infiltrator, and this latest outburst of misinformation just reinforces the position.
Albertans deserve better than this from the official opposition, but unfortunately, they have Naheed Nenshi heading the Liberals’ campaign of lies and misdirection in the province.
By all accounts, Smith is making the right call here. Any money taken from Albertans by the feds to fund their incredibly obvious (and desperate) vote-buying scheme should be immediately refunded so that Alberta can expand its superior, already-existing infrastructure.
