By paNOW Staff

Furber slams minister to support dental therapy school

Nov 4, 2010 | 6:32 AM

Andrew de Souza

paNOW Staff

Darcy Furber, MLA for Prince Albert Northcote, slammed the government over a lack of support for the National School of Dental Therapy in Prince Albert during question period, Wednesday.

Furber brought a group of instructors and students from the school to the legislature in Regina. The students and staff were there as part of their campaign to drum up support for the school, which had recently lost its federal funding.

“The students and staff that have come here today are calling on the Saskatchewan Party Government to step up to the plate and consider the needs of northern and rural Saskatchewan,” said Furber.

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“It’s about real students — it’s real people in real communities. They’ve come down to Regina today to express their public concern and to reflect the public outcry.”

The members of the school brought with them more than 1500 signatures—collected in just a few weeks and 18 letters of support from different levels of government and community organizations.

Their efforts were prompted when, two years ago, Health Canada announced funding for the program would be cut this upcoming spring. After learning of the cuts, the school had been appealing to the province to step in and fund the program.

However, the province responded that it wouldn’t fund the school unless there was community support for it.

The school’s case is that it not only provides dental therapists to northern and rural communities, which are a vital part of the health care system, but also that its students, while in school, provide free dental care to thousands of patients throughout the province.

Advanced Education, Employment and Immigration Minister Rob Norris said he understood the needs of the school and that he’s been speaking and corresponding with his federal counterparts saying that they shouldn’t have cut the funding in the first place.

“I have made a request that the funding be restored because the rationale that was utilized is empirically inaccurate,” said Norris.

He then turned the question towards the federal government, and added that the New Democratic Party would more likely have turned a “blind eye” to the school if it were in power.

“We know the federal government has responsibility in our north, we know the federal government has responsibilities for our First Nations and Metis, what we can’t do is simply turn a blind eye,” said Norris.

“We continue to work on this file on behalf of these students and future generations of students.”
Meanwhile, the school is still expected to close this summer if no funding is found.

adesouza@panow.com