Ontario’s auditor general, the province’s financial watchdog, issued a 1,000-page report that found that the government of Ontario Premier Doug Ford wasted tax dollars with poor planning and communication.
Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk says between February and June of this year, nearly 40% of COVID-19 vaccine doses in Ontario were wasted, likely due to an overestimate of demand for booster shots. And since the beginning of the vaccine campaign, about 3.4 million doses — representing 9% of shots — were thrown out. That includes four private companies that wasted about a quarter of the doses they were hired to administer.
“From an audit perspective we would say that there isn’t value for money because you know, money was paid for services that weren’t delivered," Lysyk said.
The report also tackled environmental concerns, such as urban flooding prevention, protection of the Niagara Escarpment and invasive species.
“Everyone would assume everything’s moving along," Lysyk said. "And then we look at it, and we go they can’t be achieving any of this because the funding is not there."
Opposition lawmakers say they’re not surprised, accusing the Ford government of supporting real estate development over the environment.
The AG’s report also assessed, among other things, money laundering in some Ontario casinos, personal protective equipment that had to be thrown out because it was damaged, obsolete or had expired, and the Conservative government spending $13 million on partisan advertising.