OTTAWA—The NDP unveiled its latest program pitch of the federal election Wednesday, promising to provide government dental insurance to more than 4 million Canadians within two years of forming government.

Speaking to reporters in a dentist’s office in Sudbury, Ont., NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said the plan would cost about $850 million per year once it is up and running. This would provide all Canadians earning less than $70,000 per year with free dental coverage, and also provide partial coverage through co-payments for those with annual incomes between $70,000 and $90,000.

“This is something we expect to use within the first year of our government,” Singh said.

“That will immediately lift 4.3 million people out of the position where they have no public or private insurance,” he said. “I’m actually getting goosebumps when I’m thinking about it.”

Immediately following Singh’s announcement, the Parliamentary Budget Officer published an estimate for how much the dental promise would cost. Assuming the program kicked in at the beginning of 2020, the PBO estimates with “moderate uncertainty” that it would cost $1.9 billion in the first full fiscal year after implementation, and then drop to between $824 million and $856 million per year after that.

The extra initial cost comes from the PBO’s expectation that “untreated oral diseases” would be addressed en masse after people without coverage are provided with government insurance.

Singh said he would still push for a universal dental care system that covers all Canadians regardless of income, but did not provide a timeline for when an NDP government would shift to such a program.

The dental plan is the second major health-care promise from the NDP, as the party pledges to provide all Canadians with universal, public “head to toe” health care over the next decade. Alongside the new dental program, the NDP has pledged to spend $10 billion per year to create a universal pharmacare program by the end of 2020.

In an emailed statement, Sandy Mutchmor, president of the Canadian Dental Association, said the organization is “pleased” to see the focus on dental care on the campaign trail.

The Green party has also promised a dental care program to cover low-income Canadians.

“We are very interested to understand clearly who will be covered, what will be covered, and we will look forward to consulting with any and all parties going forward to ensure that programs are appropriately designed to provide affordable access to oral health for all Canadians,” Mutchmor’s statement said.

Singh and his party have pledged to continue expanding health care so that all Canadians have eye care, hearing care, and mental health and addictions services as well — but the NDP has not detailed how this would be accomplished.

Asked Wednesday how the party would pay for the billions of dollars in new programs is proposing, Singh pointed to the NDP’s plan to increase taxes on businesses and the rich.

The NDP would create a new 1 per cent “super wealth tax” on household fortunes exceeding $20 million. This would include assets like real estate and stock holdings, and the PBO estimates it could bring up to $70 billion into the federal treasury over the next decade — subject to strong enforcement to counter efforts to dodge the tax.

The party also wants to increase the corporate income tax from 15 to 18 per cent, and hike the income tax on earnings above $210,000 per year to 35 per cent from 33 per cent.

Citing these measures, Singh again portrayed himself and his party as the only ones with the “courage” to tax the rich to benefit most Canadians, and accused the Liberal government under Justin Trudeau of governing on behalf of the wealthy and well-connected.

As an example, Singh said that as prime minister he would not pursue policies like the $14.4 billion in incentives for Canadian businesses the Liberals included in their fall economic update last year. The incentives were billed as a way to increase Canadian competitiveness in the face of U.S. tariffs and tax cuts, and included larger tax write offs for businesses that purchase greener manufacturing and other equipment.

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Singh, however, did not say he would cancel those tax incentives, which he characterized as a corporate giveaway he would never repeat.

“We’d invest in people. That’s the big difference,” he said.

The election is Oct. 21.

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