Horwath bashes Ford’s ‘gravy train’
NDP leader accuses premier of making ‘backroom deals’ with his appointments
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is cranking up the heat on Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford as MPPs prepare to return to Queen’s Park the week after next.
In a fiery speech Friday to New Democrats at an Ajax caucus meeting, Horwath accused Ford of cronyism.
“He’s handing out tickets on his gravy train. And while the appointments, the backroom deals, and the favours to friends are piling up, the rest of Ontario is paying for it,” she said.
That’s an apparent reference to the Tories’ bid to install Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner, a Ford pal, as commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police.
Integrity commissioner J. David Wake is currently doing an ethics investigation into the appointment, which has raised questions about the independence of the OPP. Taverner, 72, is in limbo until Wake’s probe, which was triggered by an NDP complaint, is complete.
Horwath also took aim at Dr. Rueben Devlin, head of the premier’s council on tackling hospital overcrowding. “What has Doug Ford done? He has launched a sham health-care consultation and given his buddy a $1-million contract to consult, all while scheming behind closed doors to overhaul health care, and throw open the door to unprecedented levels of privatization,” she said.
Last week, the NDP was leaked draft legislation that proposes to reform the health-care system by creating a new super agency that Horwath claims would increase privatization of medical services. Health Minister Christine Elliott has denied that charge, insisting nothing has been “finalized.”
Elliott said Horwath’s attacks are “fearmongering.”
“We are concentrating on providing better quality services for the people of Ontario through our publicly funded system using their OHIP card,” she said.
A bureaucrat was fired Monday after being blamed for the leak and the OPP have been called in. The anti-rackets branch is looking into the matter.
Horwath said there is a pattern with the Tory administration that took office last June.
“Ontarians have watched Doug Ford and his government continue their attempted assault on the things we value most. In the past few weeks alone, Doug Ford has taken specific aim at education, including full-day kindergarten, clean water, the Greenbelt, help for college and university students, autism services and funding for children, and our public health-care system,” she said. “None of this is what people voted for.” With the legislature resuming Feb. 19 after the winter break, Horwath promised her opposition party would hit the ground running.
“This session, what the people of Ontario can expect from us is more bills, ideas, and proposals to tackle the things that matter. Because when someone’s trying to drag you backwards, you don’t put it in park, you jam on the gas.”