Press Release |
January 9, 2012
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February 2, 2012 Statement from The Hon Deb Matthews "Dr. Chris Mazza , president and CEO, and Maria Renzella, Chief Operating Officer, have been terminated and ORNGE has advised us that no severance has been offered,." see news The Sun Times January 9 2012 See also Health Care Accountability from April 2011 details of Questions to Min of Health on ORNGE McGunity Gov't Ignored Warnings of Turbulance in Air Ambulance Organization Jan 12, 2012 |
ORNGE HAS ONTARIANS SEEING RED
QUEEN’S PARK – When a do-nothing government is presiding over a $16-billion deficit and a cash-strapped healthcare system, Dalton McGuinty and Health Minister Deb Matthews must come clean on what they know about the out-of-control agency, ORNGE, PC MPP Frank Klees said today.
“What we do know is that ORNGE receives $150 million from the government and for over a year, I’ve raised these concerns directly with the Premier and Health Minister. They’ve known about it and didn’t act,” Klees said.
Klees noted that examples of waste and mismanagement include:
- ORNGE employees on the Sunshine List, which publishes government employees making $100,000 or more per year, jumped from 16 people in 2006 to 116 in 2011
- ORNGE President and CEO Chris Mazza, was paid $1.4 million a year, making him the highest publicly paid official in Ontario – although this salary didn’t appear on the Sunshine List
- On Dalton McGuinty’s watch, changes to air ambulance services have resulted in a 450 per cent cost increase and reduced accountability, and
- $600,000 was dolled out to pay for business degrees for ORNGE executives, including former McGuinty Liberal staffers now employed by ORNGE
“The mess at ORNGE has many Ontarians seeing red,” Klees said. “When I stood in the Legislature and called for answers and action, ORNGE jumped in to shut me down by threatening a lawsuit. But they were the ones who backed down.”
“Now I want to ask Dalton McGuinty and Deb Matthews more questions: When I first raised these concerns, what did you do? Did you ignore the issue or get the facts? Dalton McGuinty and Deb Matthews must immediately come clean about what they knew and when they knew it.
“The McGuinty Liberals can start cleaning up their mess by implementing the Tim Hudak and PC Caucus plan to conduct a top-to-bottom review of all spending areas. This way, we can protect crucial healthcare dollars.”
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For further information, contact
Frank Klees, MPP
905-750-0019
See also In the Legislature from April 2011