TORONTO – Steven Del Duca, leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, made the following statement:
Today, the government announced a commission to review long term care in Ontario.
For weeks we have been calling for a public inquiry into the deaths at long term care homes. Today’s announcement, while welcome, does not specify if the commission will look into the COVID-19 deaths in long term care or into the government’s response.
And it does not commit to making the commission’s work public – there is no guarantee with a commission the public will ever see the result of its work.
This is progress, but I am concerned that a commission may not provide the transparency to the public that this crisis calls out for.
It’s vital that the terms of reference for the commission be broad and include the response of the long term care homes and the government to COVID-19. It would be an injustice if the commission is not allowed to study over 1,300 COVID-19 related deaths.
The families of those who have perished in long term care homes deserve answers. The work of the commission must be made public—and it must look into long term care deaths.