The Ontario Minister of Health Must Resign
Christopher Leighton MD, FRCPC
The December 14, 2023, endorsement and promotion of Premier Ford’s newest initiative to sell beer and wine at convenience stores by Sylvia Jones MPP is beyond belief, especially from a Minister of Health.
The COVID19 pandemic has exacerbated the problems of alcohol and drug addiction across Canada. So much has been written on the subject both in newspapers and academic papers.
“Canada’s got a drinking problem — and one senator says Ottawa needs to step up” — May 22, 2023
Alcohol culture ballooned during pandemic, led to more problematic drinking: experts — Sept. 11, 2023
Trends in alcohol-attributable hospitalisations and emergency department visits by age, sex, drinking group and health conditions in Ontario, Canada.
Brendan T Smith et al. Alcohol Rev, 2023 May;42(4):926–937. doi: 10.1111/dar.13629. Epub 2023 Feb 26.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dar.13629
A study of Canadians 2009–2019 ie. pre-pandemic, had already demonstrated rising problems with alcohol abuse. : “Over the study period, the modelled rates of alcohol-attributable health-care encounters were higher in males, but increased faster in females. Specifically, rates of alcohol-attributable hospitalisations and ED visits increased by 300% (19–76 per 100,000) and 37% (774–1,064 per 100,000) in females, compared to 20% (322–386 per 100,000) and 2% (2563–2626 per 100,000) in males, respectively.”
This is the same Minister of Health who seems more adapt at attending pressers geared at generating positive talking points, such as giving pharmacists the ability to treat rashes, meanwhile COVID19 hospitalizations are reaching significant highs across Ontario and the province refuses to adopt any mitigation measures. In fact, additional public health COVID19 funding has been left to expire. Public health units are laying off staff across Ontario.
The Kingston General Hospital had a record 580 admissions yesterday. “We continue to see patients with COVID-19 as infection rates hold steady across our region. We’re averaging about 15–20 COVID inpatients per-day, some in the ICU. Meanwhile, we’ve now hit peak RSV season and flu cases are beginning to rise in the area,” KHSC said on X.
It’s no secret I have been dismayed at the lack of public health actions by the Ford government in the midst of overwhelming evidence provided by experts from the Ministry of Health, Public Health Ontario, the COVID19 Ontario Advisory Science Table, and numerous experts in public health, infectious diseases, and environmental sciences. My own October 2022 FOI request to the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) yielded enough evidence to clearly illustrate public health policy (and withdrawal of public health measures in 2022) failed to be informed by science i.e. it was more political than anything. I prepared a lengthy brief for opposition MPPs and the Ontario Ombudsman. Most obviously, the risks to vulnerable Ontarians were not serious considerations of the Minister of Health, the CMOH, or our Premier. Recommendations by a CMOH Schools Working Group that high quality (N95) masks be made available to students were never implemented.
Isn’t long overdue that Ontario have a Minister of Health with qualifications in the health sciences so he or she may understand the importance of their position and the responsibility it requires. A college diploma in radio journalism is apparently grossly insufficient.
