Government shouldn’t overlook public health, says MPP Arnott – Speech
Ontario Hansard – 02-March 2016
Ontario Hansard – 02-March 2016
Mr. Ted Arnott: The leadership of our medical officers of health and the programs provided by our
boards of health and public health units demonstrate a focus on health, not just health care. This is
essential, because Ontario needs a wellness agenda which promotes illness prevention and keeping people healthy, not just caring for the sick.
The Ministry of Health has frozen funding for cost-shared mandatory public health programs, as well as
fully funded programs. Health units are being forced to do more with less and reduce staffing. This should concern all of us in this House.
The Minister of Health needs to listen to our public health officials. In addition to expressing concern
about funding challenges, they’re also responding to his Patients First discussion paper. The Wellington-
Dufferin-Guelph Public Health board chair, Doug Auld, has written an excellent letter to the minister with constructive feedback on the discussion paper, raising the need for co-operation, collaboration,
recognition of local communities’ unique needs, accountability, appropriate alignment of LHIN
boundaries and dedicated funding.
I’ve also heard similar concerns from the region of Halton. In particular, they’ve emphasized the need for appropriate alignment of LHIN boundaries and consolidating the entire region into one LHIN area. They also stress the importance of ensuring that there is sufficient funding from the province to enable them to continue to provide the public health services that our residents need.
Now that the minister has concluded his consultation process on Patients First, I urge him to pay close
attention to the recommendations of our public health officials and to remember Ben Franklin’s old
saying: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”