Sask. taking hard look at Alberta’s dental opt-out, classroom phone ban

The Alberta government recently said it would opt out of the federal dental plan by 2026 and ban cellphones in K-12 schools starting this fall.

The Government of Saskatchewan hasn’t made any moves to follow Alberta’s lead yet, but is taking a close look at both options.

Premier Scott Moe said he thinks the cellphone ban isn’t a bad idea.

“That’s something that I think is fair to say that not only us but other provinces are having a look at as well,” Moe said.

A decision on the matter would have teachers and students in mind, the premier noted.

“(We’re) really ensuring that the learning environment that we have in our K-12 system is paramountly focused on just that,” he said. “The discussion that we’ve had in this province over the last number of months has been around how best do we support our educators so that they in turn can support our students?”

Moe said Jeremy Cockrill, Saskatchewan’s minister of education, will have more information on whether Saskatchewan will follow Alberta’s lead on the cellphone ban at a later time.

Health minister says there are unanswered questions on dental plan

Meanwhile, Health Minister Everett Hindley said the province wants more information on the federal dental plan.

“I would say we’re still looking at it,” he said. “We’re waiting to see more details from the federal government. We would only sign onto something if it’s not going to disadvantage us as a provincial government financially, but also we want to ensure that whatever we sign is actually better for Saskatchewan patients.”

Hindley said he’s happy to work with Ottawa on a plan, so long as it moves Saskatchewan forward rather than backward.

“We’re grateful for any partnership that we’re able to have with the federal government,” he said. “We want to ensure that whatever sort of agreement we sign doesn’t set us back, that it doesn’t disadvantage Saskatchewan patients, whether it’s on pharmacare or dental care. We’ve been working with our federal counterparts.”

He said he has met with a number of dentists across the province who still have a lot of unanswered questions about the federal plan.