Smitherman Under Fire Following eHealth Report
Posted October 8, 2009 7:10 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s been over a year since George Smitherman served as Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.
But the eHealth program, currently the subject of a damning report by Ontario’s auditor-general, continued on his watch.
Jim McCarter found that the province spent $1 billion over 10 years trying to create electronic health records with very little to show for it.
Not only that, many million-dollar contracts went untendered.
According to the Opposition at Queen’s Park, that means Smitherman is just as culpable as ousted Health Minister David Caplan.
“George Smitherman should have resigned in addition to Minister Caplan,” Tim Hudak, leader of the Progressive Conservative party, charged.
“There’s no doubt Minister Caplan got caught holding a lot of George Smitherman’s dirty laundry.”
After five years with the portfolio, Smitherman became the deputy premier and the Minister for Energy and Infrastructure in June of 2008.
“I don’t have survivor’s guilt but I feel terribly, of course, about the loss of a friend and a colleague,” Smitherman replied.
“I know how hard David Caplan works; I know he’s a public servant.”
The auditor’s report also highlights a $30-million, sole-sourced contract given to IBM, which was approved by a cabinet committee, not by eHealth executives.
Minutes after the report was released, the government released two boxes full of binders containing hundreds of pages of freedom-of-information requests from eHealth and the ministry.
With files from The Canadian Press.
