I don’t doubt Doug Ford‘s sincerity in trying to address the abhorrent conditions in so many of Ontario’s long-term care facilities.
The damning report released Tuesday from the Canadian military, which has been assisting in caring for the residents of some of those establishments, shines the light on horrific conditions that have existed for far too long.
Now, the premier has announced that the government will take over operation of some of those underperforming facilities, but before we pin a gold star on the premier for riding to the rescue of the victims of this broken system, Ford needs to acknowledge that although his government didn’t create this crisis in long-term care, it must accept culpability for exacerbating this tragic circumstance.
Ford’s wrong-headed directive to “find efficiencies” in government budgets included significant cuts to oversight and inspection of those very same long-term care facilities.
There are more than 600 such facilities in Ontario, yet last year, there were only nine resident-quality inspections done by the government.
Let that sink in: only nine of more than 600 facilities were inspected to ensure that standards of care were being met.
Fast-food restaurants have more scrutiny than the facilities that are supposed to care for our seniors.
The premier needs to understand that there are consequences to his cost-cutting mantra.
Slashing the budget for oversight of long-term care might have saved a few bucks off the bottom line, but it also contributed to making a bad situation even worse.
Bill Kelly is the host of the Bill Kelly Show on Global News Radio 900 CHML.