My question is to the Premier.

In my riding alone, there are 25 residents who are no longer eligible for the senior dental care program for 2022-23 as a result of a 2.8% increase to seniors’ CPP and OAS due to inflation. It is a welcome bump for seniors living on fixed incomes. However, due to an outdated income requirement program, now Ontario has seniors who do not have access to stable dental care.

Speaker, through you, is this government going to commit to increasing the income ceiling for the dental care program to accommodate for inflation?

I figured the minister would say what she said; however, when looking into this issue for my residents, I received the same response from this ministry. In fact, we were told that no changes to the program eligibility will be made, and citing that, there is not a need for it after all; the rollout of the federal dental care plan will be in place by 2025.

Through you, Speaker, does this government intend to leave low-income seniors living in pain without basic dental care until 2025 because their CPP was increased by a mere $50 to $100 a year?

As the member opposite would be well aware, the federal government is looking at expanding dental. They have not made any determinations of how that pathway is done.

In the province of Ontario, we’ve acted. We have a seniors’ dental program which—again, as with every other income-based program, whether it’s drugs, whether it’s rental—has an income-threshold base to it.

Is the member opposite suggesting that individuals most in need, most at risk, should not have access to the dental care that we are currently providing in the province of Ontario?

The federal government is talking about it. We in Ontario have acted and implemented it.

I’m very pleased with some of the comments the member is bringing to the floor of the Legislature, particularly from the perspective of her riding. That’s really important and key, and it’s a reminder to all members. It’s so important for us to learn from each other by bringing those stories.

I want to bring some stories from my area of Algoma–Manitoulin. Our seniors across this province, and in northern Ontario, many of them are on fixed incomes. They’re very limited as far as what they’re getting on their pensions. They budget everything to the last penny that they spend every month. The increases in gas that they’ve experienced in order to get to and from either Sudbury or Sault Ste. Marie in getting to a doctor’s appointment has had an impact on their budget. The small increase they received on their CPP has now made them ineligible—by $40—to get dental coverage and others now, the big whammy that’s really hit them, have received a 25% increase on their propane costs where they’ve done everything to try to eliminate the high cost of hydro.

I’d like to hear from you what seniors in your area are experiencing?