Simone Smith
“The government knew a second wave was coming. More and more people were getting sick and long-term care homes were still vulnerable. This report shows there were billions in the coffers that could have helped — and Ford held it back,” (Catherine Fife, NDP Finance Critic)
A new report from the Financial Accountability Office shows the Doug Ford government held on to COVID funds instead of using them to prevent the second wave and second round of lockdowns in Ontario, said NDP Finance critic Catherine Fife.
What the FAO report shows is that despite billions in federal COVID funding landing in the province’s bank accounts, the government was still sitting on $4.7 billion of that by Dec. 31, 2020. The NDP believes that the money could have been spent on paid sick days, more staff in long-term care, in-workplace testing to prevent outbreaks, and more. They feel that it could have prevented or shortened the second lock-down. Investing in long-term care over the summer and fall could have saved some of the nearly 2,000 people who died in nursing homes during the second wave.”
Spending over the first three quarters of the year was a whopping $3 billion less than promised. In the third quarter, ending Dec. 31, the government spent $284 million less on public health than they promised.
What does the Ford Government have to say to that? Is it possible that they have cost thousands of lives?
What are your thoughts, and have other world governments been holding back on funding?
