Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he will “protect” the newly introduced Liberal government social programs such as dental care and pharmacare.
The Conservatives have largely refrained from discussing the federal dental care program, and have criticized pharmacare in the past. But the Tory leader told reporters March 25 he would not axe the programs if elected.
“We will protect these programs and no one who has them will lose them,” Poilievre told reporters during a campaign stop in Vaughan, Ont. “We will make sure that nobody loses their dental care.”
Pharmacare and the national dental-care program were key elements of the former supply-and-confidence agreement between the Liberals and NDP.
The dental program, established in 2022, currently provides coverage primarily to children, seniors, and Canadians with disabilities. Government figures show that more than 3.4 million Canadians have been approved to receive care, and so far 1.7 million have received services under the program. The Liberals said they will expand the eligibility of the program this year to those between 18 and 64 who have household incomes of less than $90,000 and don’t have private insurance.
The universal pharmacare plan allows the federal government to sign deals with provinces and territories to cover birth control and diabetes medications within the public health system. It became law last October.
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Liberal Leader Mark Carney has said he is proud of the Liberal government’s support of both programs, including the $10-a-day child care initiative.
While also promising an income tax cut, Carney has said his plan to not drastically drive up debt includes increasing government efficiency and stopping the average 9 percent growth in government spending that has been seen in recent years.
On the child-care initiative, Poilievre has said the Liberals’ “one size fit all” models don’t work and promised that a Conservative government would offer more “freedom and flexibility” to parents, providers, and provinces to support a child care model that also works for those who don’t have 9-to-5, Monday-to-Friday jobs.
“Provinces can decide how to deliver those services on the front line with more flexibility and freedom for parents, provinces, and providers,“ he said. ”We’ll massively expand the availability of child care and reduce the bureaucracy that stands in the way.”
Poilievre has said he would balance the books by requiring ministries to cut spending by a dollar before they spend a dollar, and by cutting government bureaucracy, outsourcing, and foreign aid.
Defence Spending
Carney is promising to allocate more dollars to defence spending through the purchase of new submarines, a fleets of drones, and more heavy-duty icebreakers while also offering Canadian Armed Forces personnel a pay raise.
“We will deliver an unprecedented acceleration of investment in our armed Forces so that we can defend every inch of our sovereign territory, while also helping to support and defend our allies abroad,” he said during a March 25 campaign stop at the Irving shipyard in Halifax.
Carney announced last week that Ottawa will purchase a new radar system from Australia to the tune of $6 billion. The system, which will detect incoming missiles over the Arctic, will be provided by BAE Systems, a British-owned firm with a subsidiary in Australia.
Poilievre has also focused on Arctic defence and has pledged to build a permanent military base there to assert sovereignty in the North. The proposed military facility in Iqaluit would be an air force wing to accommodate F-35 fighter jets and Poseidon P-8 surveillance aircraft, he said.
He also promised to double the number of Canadian Rangers patrolling the north, and purchase two heavy icebreakers for the navy.
The pledges for enhanced Arctic security come at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing NATO member countries to meet the 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) spending requirement and has floated the idea of a 5 percent minimum.
Canada currently falls short of the 2 percent benchmark. Under the federal government’s 2024 defence policy, it estimated defence spending would rise to 1.76 percent of GDP by 2029–30. Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last summer that Canada “fully expects” to reach NATO’s defence spending target by 2032.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
