(Queen’s Park, Toronto) – Despite promises to hire 9000 new nurses, the McGuinty Government is cutting 190 nursing jobs at Ottawa Hospital while wasting a billion dollars on the eHealth scandal and tens of millions of dollars on abuse of health care programs like the Assistive Devices Program. 

Carleton-Mississippi Mills MPP Norm Sterling asked McGuinty why anyone should trust his health care promises after he promised to hire 9000 new nurses in his last Throne Speech. 

“As the Ottawa Hospital just learned, you’re firing nurses, not hiring them,” Mr. Sterling told McGuinty during Question Period.  “Now you say you’ll hire the nurses by 2011.  Why should Ottawa patients believe you?”

Mr. Sterling went on to demonstrate where the Auditor General and the Public Accounts Committee have found that the McGuinty government has misspent taxpayers’ money, either intentionally as in the case of the eHealth scandal, or carelessly in the case of the abuses of the Assistive Devices Program. 

“This afternoon, the public accounts committee is going to hear about the waste in the Assistive Devices Program which cost Ontario taxpayers $350 million a year. The auditor tells us the abuse in this program is in the tens of millions of dollars,” said Mr. Sterling.  “This program could provide the same or better service at a lower cost if the waste was eliminated.  That would leave more money available to hire nurses at the Ottawa Hospital.”

In typical McGuinty style the Premier refused to answer the questions. 

-30-

For more information, call Carleton-Mississippi Mills MPP Norm Sterling at: (416) 314-7900