MPP JOURNAL for the week of June 4, 2021

Accountability to the Taxpayers of Ontario

The Ontario Government's 21 steps into the 21st Century includes holding the Broad Public Sector accountable to taxpayers. This 21-step action plan lays out the new ideas, decisive steps and tough decisions essential to protecting the economy, encouraging growth and sustaining our quality of life.

Accountability is a requirement, not just of Ontario's government, but of all governments, and all institutions funded by taxpayers. After all, the government is the servant of the people. The entire public sector belongs to the citizens of Ontario.

To ensure our government, school boards, colleges, universities and hospitals are being accountable for taxpayer dollars, performance measures will be gathered and posted on the government web site.

The children of today will become the leaders of tomorrow. That is why the government wants the best for our students. School boards will be required to report annually on how they apply funding within their boards. These results will also be published to show the public how responsible and accountable the board is to its students.

Our government also recognizes how important healthcare is to the citizens of Ontario. The government knows that the healthcare system needs to become more accountable to the taxpayers who need and use its services. A Patients' charter will let patients know what they have a right to expect from their health system. Also, itemized statements will allow patients to confirm that services billed to OHIP were actually provided.

To further the accountability of the healthcare system, the government will publish the results of hospital report cards, to show how well they are performing in comparison to other hospitals around the province. Teams of experts from the field and top-performing hospitals will work with the lowest-scoring facilities to help improve efficiency and service. Ultimately, overall funding will then be linked to how well hospitals perform.

All governments need to be accountable to their taxpayers, which is why our government will create greater transparency for taxpayers at the municipal level by encouraging local governments to look for new, innovative ways to deliver services.

The government of Ontario will build on its accountability by expanding its use of the Internet to help bring citizens closer to their government. The goal is to ensure citizens' access to a wide range of tools and information that will enable them to participate more fully in the democratic process. As the first step toward e-democracy, our government will consult and review opportunities for the use of technology to build accountability and transparency in government.

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David Tilson, MPP Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey

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