John Tory Leader of the Oppositon

October 27, 2006

Progressive Conservative Party Leader John Tory today said three years of Dalton McGuinty inaction on emergency rooms has led to a crisis which the government continues to downplay.

“There is a crisis in our emergency rooms and it’s time the McGuinty Liberals admitted it,” said Tory. “I have been to hospitals all over the province and have seen it first hand. When I visited Peel Memorial Hospital in Brampton the average ER wait time was 12 hours to see a doctor – that is completely unacceptable. Today’s announcement does little to make up for Dalton McGuinty standing idly by for over three years while this problem intensified.”

The McGuinty Liberals promised over three years ago to unclog Ontario’s emergency rooms and add 1,600 new beds. Despite being warned about a growing crisis, by both frontline ER doctors and the Opposition, the McGuinty Liberals waited until the situation was a full-blown crisis to announce they would increase spending.

“If just money was the answer, why isn’t this situation solved by now?” said Tory. “We’ve seen a track record by the McGuinty Liberals of lots of public relations, big spending and very few results. Are Ontarians supposed to congratulate Dalton McGuinty for finally noticing there is a crisis in our Emergency Rooms? I think they’ll be saying we’ll wait and see if there is any improvement or any results.”

The McGuinty Liberals responded to a report on ERs today called Improving Access to Emergency Care: Addressing System Issues. That was one of two reports the Health Minister received this year dating back to January and still many of the critical recommendations have been apparently rejected.

“George Smitherman is putting a band aid on a compound fracture,” said Tory. “Our emergency rooms absolutely must have benchmarks and performance indicators. The McGuinty Liberals are not acting on those recommendations and it’s unlikely we’ll see real improvement as a result.”