toronto public health cuts

Ontario government cuts $1 billion from Toronto Public Health and people are furious

Another day, another round of funding cuts to vital services in Ontario. 

About a billion dollars in funding is being cut from Toronto Public Health's operating budget over the next ten years, according to staff. 

Many are speaking out against the cuts, including Toronto city councillors and healthcare staff, who say the lack of funding will lead to lost lives. 

"People will die," Councillor Joe Cressy said. "People are going to die." 

Mayor John Tory also weighed in on the funding cuts, saying in a statement that the cuts are a "targeted attack on the health of our entire city." He also vowed that the city will push back against the new budget. 

According to experts in the Toronto Public Health network, several vital programs will be the victims of the cuts, including immunization programs, food and nutrition policies, water quality programs, surveillance of infectious and communicable diseases, and promotion of sexual health. 

However, despite warnings from officials, the province says that all units will be properly funded, somehow. 

Hayley Chazan, spokesperson for Minister of Health Christine Elliott, said in a statement that a cost-sharing model will be shifted to properly fund everything. "We are working directly with our municipal partners," the statement says. 

However the province plans to fund the health programs that will theoretically be lost under the new policies, it's clear that the city is not happy with yet another loss of vital services at the hands of the province. 

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