Showing posts with label ornge air ambulance scandal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ornge air ambulance scandal. Show all posts

Monday, March 4, 2013

The Incorrigible Deb Matthews

That Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews, who presided over the Ornge scandal, remains in her portfolio in the new Wynne government is unfathomable to me. A woman of breathtaking incompetence who steadfastly refused all calls for her resignation as each sordid detail of corruption and sybaritic spending within the air ambulance was revealed, Matthews continues to oversee the agency with her consistently deftless hand.

The latest revelation comes in today's Star, which further solidifies Matthews' reputation for ineptitude:

Ontario Ombudsman AndrĂ© Marin warns there will be no “credible accountability” at ORNGE unless long-awaited new legislation to reform the troubled air ambulance service gives him oversight powers.

Instead, Matthews has opted for a patient advocate's post which, according to Marin,

will be seen as toothless because the patient advocate’s office reports to the health ministry.

“They would not be independent of government. Far from being watchdogs, they would operate on a ministerial dog leash,” Marin wrote in the two-page letter. “The ombudsman is a fully independent officer of parliament . . . by contrast, the patient advocate reports to an ORNGE vice-president, not even the board of directors.”

And exactly what will be the function of this patient advocate? Apparently, according to the job description posted last year, the advocates’ office will “investigate, resolve, document and report organization-specific patient and visitor compliments and concerns.”

As Marin tartly observes, “... a position that involves reporting compliments back to management ought not to be confused with the role of the Ombudsman.”

So, brickbats and bouquets, rather than substantive legislative oversight of the deeply-flawed ambulance service with the profligate misspending problem, seems to be the order of the day.

With regard to Health Minister Deb Matthews, I rest my case.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Dalton McGuinty and the Ornge Scandal

As I recently observed in a post, Ontario's Premier Dalton McGuinty has refused to testify before the legislative committee investigating the Ornge air ambulance scandal.

Rather than try to help ferret out the wrongdoing that has cost Ontario taxpayers untold millions, enriched the accounts of high-placed Ornge executives, and engendered widespread doubts about the competence of his government, this pusillanimous politician who seems to enjoy the prestige of leadership while disregarding its responsibilities apparently prefers political expediency over public integrity.

A letter appearing in today's print edition of The Star succinctly sums up the situation McGuinty's dereliction of duty:

Re: McGuinty won't testify at ORNGE hearings, Aug. 26

Premier Dalton McGuinty’s refusal to testify at the hearings into the ORNGE scandal, where millions of Ontarians’ tax dollars have been misappropriated, is in itself a scandal. Nobody in the McGuinty government has ever taken responsibility for this, or any of the other countless fiscal mismanagement scandals that have constantly plagued his government.

As premier, Mr. McGuinty needs to realize the buck stops with him and we taxpayers need answers why he and his ministers refuse to be held accountable.

Larry Comeau, Ottawa

Saturday, August 25, 2012

One May Smile And Smile And Be A Villain

The above title, a quotation from my favorite Shakespearean play, Hamlet, is, I suppose, something of a truism in today's age of cynical politics. Yet it was the line that immediately occurred to me as I read this story from today's Star that reveals Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's refusal to testify before the committee looking into the Ornge air ambulance scandal, a scandal that draws a number of bureaucrats, party functionaries, and government ministers into its web of deceit and self-aggrandizement.

Despite McGuinty's public posturing about wanting to get to the full truth about this tale of personal greed and government ineptitude, his refusal to testify raises even more questions.

For example did he, as he claims, meet with Ornge head Dr. Chris Mazza only once, or was it perhaps three times, as the latter claims?

If McGuinty has his way, we will never know the answer to this and many other troubling aspects of this sad tale.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Another Award For The Star

Despite my general disaffection with the mainstream media, I continue to be heartened by one of the few bright spots on the journalistic landscape, The Toronto Star.

Awarded a Citation of Merit on Tuesday evening at Rideau Hall for the work done by investigative reporter Kevin Donovan that uncovered the Ornge air ambulance scandal, president of the Michener Awards Foundation Russell Mills had this to say:

Stories revealed a stunning lack of government oversight at a critical public service, in which senior managers benefited over those people the air ambulance service was supposed to be helping."

The Star highlighted how millions of dollars were used to create everything from private companies to a charity, and to purchase new helicopters that were improperly outfitted.

As a result of the series, whistle-blowers came forward to expose the shocking depths of the scandal.

Unlike most newspapers today, The Star continues to uphold the finest traditions of journalism that have traditionally played such an important part in protecting and promoting democracy.