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TORONTO – Steven Del Duca, Ontario Liberal Party Leader, made the following statement:
Today, I am formally calling on Premier Doug Ford to commit to holding a public inquiry into the recent deaths that have occurred in long term care and retirement homes once the COVID-19 crisis has passed.
We have learned in the past few days that the Ford government comprehensively inspected little to no long term care facilities in 2019.
When questioned about this the Minister has been unable to provide any satisfactory answers.
9 out of 626 facilities were comprehensively tested.
The Minister has talked about managing risk, but managing risk does not mean testing less than 1.5% of long term care homes. Ontario’s seniors deserve better.
219 Ontario seniors have died in long term care and retirement facilities. 219 families deserve answers as to why their mothers and fathers were not better protected.
The government needs to move faster – and should adopt the recommendations we released yesterday, to protect the remaining residents and staff at long term care facilities.
Lives are at stake and there is no time to waste.