from OTTAWA Rapport d’Ottawa

by/par Carol Hughes

Federal member of Parliament Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing

Budget 2023 was released earlier this week. It's a budget that comes at a time when a global inflation crisis is making life a lot more unaffordable for too many people and the expectation of a shallow recession to come. Too many people are slipping through the economic cracksasthecostsofgroceriescontinuetoremain high. Housing is persistently expensive. And through these issues, we must continue to find appropriatewaystomitigateclimatechange.With this budget, we see an attempt to address many of these issues, but the government may not have tackled these problems at all if it wasn't for the Supply and ConfidenceAgreement (SACA) with theNDP.

On dental care, we are seeing that agreement in action. The new measures in this budget mean that children under 18, seniors, and people with disabilities will be able to access essential dental care, saving families up to $1,247 per year. While the Liberals voted against dental care twice before, the SACA ensured that the government would have to make providing affordabledentalcareapriorityforthosewhoneed itmost.Thisisameasurethatwillhaveasignificant impact in people's lives and livelihoods, saving families money, and giving people a chance to address significant oral health issues without