The Ontario government is being slammed for not extending the mandate of the Ontario Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission.
Ontario opposition leader Andrea Horwath (NDP) has spoken out to criticize Premier Doug Ford for rejecting a request from the commission to extend its deadline from April of 2021 to December of 2021, for submitting its final report.
Horwath was referring to a request posted on the commission website that mentioned its inability to obtain crucial government information that would assist the commission.
"The commission continues to encounter significant delays in obtaining government information central to the commission's investigation. Most documents responsive to the commission's document summonses and requests remain outstanding," the commissioners wrote in a letter to the government on Dec. 9, 2020.
"We understand the rationale for completing the report as soon as possible. We are however, writing to inform you that we will not have completed the investigation in time to deliver our report by the intended date."
The letter specifically asked the government to extend the time mandate.
"In light of the ongoing pandemic, the Commission’s outstanding requests for information, and the volume of data that the Commission anticipates receiving, we are writing to request an extension to the deadline for the Commission’s final report to December 31, 2021. Our ability to deliver the final report by this date will require the province's full co-operation, promised in the July 22, 2020 Order-in-Council."
News reports from Toronto said the request was turned down by Long-Term Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton.
Horwath accused Ford and Fullerton of trying to shut down the commission's work.
"What are they hiding?" said Horwath in a news release
The NDP said the government's decision not to extend the time of the commission is a key reason the opposition wanted an independent judicial public inquiry into long-term care be conducted instead of a premier’s commission.
