NDP Leader Andrea Horwath leaked new internal government documents on Monday she says show the province had already signed off on leaked health-care legislation the Progressive Conservatives dismissed as “just a draft” last week.
The NDP says the documents released on Monday appear to be government presentations, and include references to cabinet approving the plan and appointing board members.
“It’s a done deal,” Horwath said. “But the entire Ford government has been hiding this plan from the public. Why? Because people won’t like it.”The documents follow last week’s draft legislation, also leaked by the NDP, showing the Doug Ford government wants to create a “super agency.” The NDP will not say how they were obtained and they have not been verified.
The NDP accused the government of trying to create a two-tier private health system in Ontario, but Health Minister Christine Elliott denied that allegation last week, maintaining the government is committed to strengthening the province’s health system.
Elliott is set to hold her own news conference at 12:30 p.m. on Monday in response to Horwath’s announcement.
New care model based on bid system, NDP says
In December, high ranking officials received confidential information of the government’s planned changes to Ontario’s health-care system, Horwath said.
Horwath said the changes would give the PC government “unprecedented power to farm out” services to private sector entities.
The NDP also says the documents introduce a new model of care delivery, called MyCare groups, which would outsource services such as laboratories, many of which are already privately run, and the province’s air ambulance service.
The NDP leader said the contracts would be won through a bid system, which will have “expression of interest” due in March, if the legislation were approved.
Last week, the NDP released a draft version of upcoming PC health-care legislation, which would dissolve the province’s Local Health Integration Networks (LHIN) and create a “super agency” to oversee the health system.
The NDP received all the documents last week, but only released the draft legislation last week and held onto the internal government documents over the weekend.
“I think it was important for our staff to take as much due diligence as possible,” Horwath said, defending her decision to withhold some details last week,” she said.
“We do not have anything else to share with you on this subject, and who knows, we all know how this works, today is today, tomorrow is tomorrow and next week is next week.”
Article by CBC
