A lot of ‘ifs’ come with care-home commission
The Ontario government announced Tuesday that it would launch an independent commission into the pandemic’s devastating toll on Ontario nursing and long- term- care homes. There wasn’t much detail in the announcement: the commission will be constituted by September, with details about mandate and members. Its powers will also be determined.
The announcement has been long coming. Roughly three- quarters of Ontario’s pandemic deaths have occurred in care facilities. COVID’S depressing effectiveness at killing the elderly has been clear for months, and it’s indeed possible that faster action could have saved lives. The mass death in care homes across the country, particularly in Ontario and Quebec, will be among the most scrutinized aspects of our public- health response, alongside obvious failures in our stockpiles of personnel protective equipment and the manifest inability of the federal government to properly manage our airports during the early phase of the crisis. The Doug Ford- led government, already beset by reports that it had cut back on inspections of care homes during its first year in office, must not relish what else a commission will reveal.
The announcement of an independent commission was not met with overwhelming support. The opposition and associations representing care workers decried it, calling it a half- measure compared with a full public inquiry. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath put forward a motion calling for the government to commit to a full inquiry, which was voted down. The government’s reply was that a full public inquiry isn’t necessary — most of the longterm problems in Ontario’s care facilities are well understood, thanks to previous inquiries. Further, the government contends, a full public inquiry will take years, when answers are needed quickly.
There’s merit to both positions, sadly. This isn’t fence-sitting, it’s just the reality — there are arguments both for and against a full inquiry, and which side you come down on may reveal more about your political preferences than it does any inherent virtue or flaw in the inquiry model. The opposition and the associations are right that the government can limit the scope of an independent commission in ways that it cannot hobble a full inquiry. The government is right to note that inquiries do indeed often run on for years, and that many of the challenges in Ontario’s care homes are already well known.
An independent commission, if properly constituted and given a strong mandate, could deliver the needed information in a direct, non- partisan manner, and on a reasonably aggressive timeline set by the government. It could provide real information, perhaps in time to be of meaningful assistance if we are forced to contend with major secondary ( and beyond) waves of this pandemic. It could have all the powers it needs to do the job properly, even if the findings end up making the government look bad.
That leaves two problems, of course. Astute readers will have noted the repeated use of “if ” in the above paragraph, and the first problem is exactly that: is the government willing to set up a commission properly, assign an aggressive timeline for a report and recommendations, and impose no other restrictions and throw up no obstacles? If so — there’s that word again — an independent commission can do the necessary work of an inquiry faster.
The second problem is distinct but related. Even if the government did decide to do the right thing and stick its neck out and empower an independent commission with a budget, mandate and composition that was more than adequate, would the government’s critics continue to call for an inquiry, if only for the political headache it would pose for the premier? Is there any room left in our politics for the parties to ever agree that a government was taking accountability seriously enough? Is there any party disciplined enough to avoid making the choice to pursue a commission, even if responsibly designed, into a political bludgeon?
It would be nice to think so. And over the course of the crisis, Canadian politicians at all levels — including in Ontario’s legislature — have occasionally impressed with their ability to work quickly and collaboratively to address the pandemic. But as the danger recedes and life returns to something more like we’re used to, it’s all too easy to imagine a return to politics as normal, with all that entails. Indeed, that may well be one of the first things to return to business as usual.