The day after Toronto’s mayor launches a petition campaign, encouraging residents to tell their MPPs to stand up for the city and reverse provincial funding cuts, comes the letter.

It’s signed by 10 former Ontario health ministers of all political stripes, including Helena Jaczek and Eric Hoskins who served in the previous Wynne government, and implores the Ford Conservatives to reverse public health cuts, they say, put the province ”at risk”.

 

”Traditionally, Ministers of Health have avoided commenting on the policies of their successors,” the letter reads.

“Health has been seen as a non-partisan issue — something we all support.  This attack on public health has prompted us to break our silence.”

In response, Health Minister Christine Elliott points to the auditor-general’s 2017 report that found problems with how public health units co-ordinate research and services with one another and with other municipal partners, such as school boards.

”All told, it’s clear that there are significant opportunities to more efficiently deliver public health while protecting and improving vital programs,” Elliott said in an email.