FAO report shows Ford’s refusal to spend to prevent second wave

QUEEN’S PARK — 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.

The FAO report shows 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 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 was billions in the coffers that could have helped — and Ford held it back,” said Fife.

“That money could have been spent on paid sick days, more staff in long-term care, in-workplace testing to prevent outbreaks and more. 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.