Following debate in the Ontario Legislature on hospital projects important to the people of his riding, Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott has vowed to keep up the fight.
“We’re not giving up,” declared Arnott after a vote on his resolution, which the Liberal majority voted to reject.
That resolution called on the Minister of Health to immediately approve the planning grant requested by the Groves Memorial Community Hospital, and it included a request for approval for a small project capital grant for the Georgetown Hospital, allowing it to proceed with its needed emergency room addition and diagnostic imaging renovation project.
He expressed disappointment with the Liberals’ partisan response to his resolution.
“I made every effort to work with the government in a constructive, non-partisan manner,” he said. “In the end, they did not reciprocate.”
The Liberals’ refusal to accept Arnott’s resolution came in the same week the Auditor General released a scathing report on the government’s use of health care dollars. That report unveiled some hospitals’ use of high-priced lobbyists to access government officials.
Hospitals must be able to go to their MPPs, without having to hire lobbyists, to advocate for their needs, said Arnott. On that score, he says, the Liberals’ actions just don’t match their rhetoric.
“On the very day that the Minister of Health was quoted in the Toronto Star as saying MPPs should advocate for their hospitals, her Liberal colleagues slammed the door in our faces.”
Though local in scope, the resolution had implications for hospitals across Ontario.
“Too many projects are still waiting, seemingly indefinitely,” Arnott explained. “It’s time the [Dalton] McGuinty Liberals finally disclosed exactly which hospitals are on its list, how long they’ve been waiting, and when they can expect to see progress.”
MPPs Elizabeth Witmer and Christine Elliott spoke to Arnott’s resolution during the debate.
“I applaud my colleague,” said Witmer, herself a former Minister of Health. “He has been professional. He has been passionate. He has taken every step necessary trying to find out where these two hospitals stand in the queue,” she said.
Elliott agreed.
“I would like to point out again how tirelessly [Mr. Arnott] has worked on behalf of his community for this,” she said.
“He’s asked in all of the proper ways to do that. He’s written to the minister, he’s gone through all the proper channels, but he’s been stymied at every turn.”
Arnott thanked local hospital and community leaders for their support of his resolution and for their part in further strengthening health care services.
“I want to thank the representatives of the Groves and Georgetown hospitals, as well as Mayor Rick Bonnette and Councillor Jon Hurst, for coming to Queen’s Park and standing up for our fine hospitals.”
Groves Hospital has been waiting for nearly two year for the next step in its building program. Only the province can give the approval.
