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Leaked documents reveal the PC’s plan to privatize the province’s healthcare system

It was a bombshell announcement by NDP leader Andrea Horwath, that wasn’t fully disputed by the Ford government.
Horwath says leaked documents reveal the PC’s plan to potentially privatize some of the province’s healthcare system, but health minister Christine Elliott says the document Horwath is referring to is a very early draft of legislation that has not been finalized.
Horwath says the 81 page document of drafted legislation by the Ford government was leaked to NDP staff Wednesday night. Horwath says the document is a blue print for the privatization of hospitals by creating a super agency that would over see healthcare.
“Including replacing public hospitals with private companies and privatizing primary care like your family doctor, pediatrician or community health centre”
Christine Elliott says the PC’s want what’s best for Ontarians, adding that an improved health care plan is still in the works.
“Drafts are drafts. It has not been finalized.”
Some healthcare services are already privatized in Ontario like family doctors who run their own private practices, nonetheless the service is still covered by OHIP. Horwath says even though Ontarians might not pay out of pocket for these services, private providers take profits out of the public system, money that could provide more care.
Elliott would not answer if any other areas of the healthcare system will be privatized.
This comes after the Ford government released a report on the state of the province’s healthcare system. The report shows that on average 1000 people a day are being treated in hospital hallways, the average wait time from the emergency room to a inpatient bed is 16 hours and last years average wait for a long term care placement was 146 days.
Horwath called the health care report released today a sham, saying that there’s no point in working on recommendations if the government has already drafted a healthcare plan, one that she says she hopes never gets passed.