SPRINGWATER NEWS OCTOBER 25 FOR OCTOBER 27
MPP DUNLOP: Auditor Confirms McGuinty is a Repeat Offender with eHealth
A year after being indicted by the Auditor General for wasting $1 billion at eHealth, Ontario’s worst scandal, the Auditor confirmed that Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals have once again been caught wasting healthcare dollars on Liberal insiders and consultants.
Over the past three years, the McGuinty Liberals have spent $223.7 million on Liberal-friendly consultants, while the LHINs have handed out an extra $33 million over four years, according to the latest report from the Auditor General. All of that money should have been invested in frontline healthcare.
Across the province, Dalton McGuinty’s health care cuts are shutting down emergency rooms, cancelling services, firing nurses, and closing beds while consultants are expensing vacations, alcohol and $700 per night hotel rooms in Singapore.
Worse yet, when caught last year, Dalton McGuinty promised to fix the rules and shine a light on his scandals so they wouldn’t happen again. But despite all his empty promises to do better, all he really did was ignore the evidence and allow the waste to spread to the Ministry of Health, hospitals and the LHINs. In many instances, both the Auditor’s indictments and the government’s apologies are the same from the 2009 and the 2010 reports. The only thing that has changed is that families are waiting longer for frontline healthcare services while Dalton McGuinty’s friends and insiders get richer.
Ontario families are understandably outraged that after being caught wasting a $1 billion on eHealth and pledging to stop the waste, the only commitment Dalton McGuinty kept was to let Liberal friends and insiders get richer.
Here are some excerpts from the Auditor General’s 2009 eHealth Report and 2010 Hospital and LHIN Report
- 2009 - “Sound and reasonable policies were in place…but all too often the rules were not followed.”
- 2010 - “We noted far too many instances at the hospitals we visited where sound public sector business practices were not followed.”
- 2009 - Referring to the sweetheart deal handed to Liberal-friendly Anzen, the Auditor said “allegations that the agency showed favouritism in awarding contracts are true.”
- 2010 - “The Ministry of Health found a way around the rules when it wanted to hire a favoured consultant….we essentially felt the fix was in.”
Apologies from the McGuinty Liberals following the Auditor General’s 2009 and 2010 reports
- 2009 – “We didn’t do enough to protect the interests of taxpayers.” – Dalton McGuinty
- 2010 – “I’m really sorry this has gone on. I don’t think this is acceptable.” – Deb Matthews
It is a year later and we still see the same waste, the same insiders getting rich and the same excuses from Dalton McGuinty. The only way to change this for good is to change government.
