From the largest cities to the smallest municipalities — and now, nearly everything in between — the Doug Ford government is facing unprecedented blowback to its plan to slash funding for public health.Resistance to the unexpected scheme to restructure public health, including a reduction in provincial funding and cutting the total number of public health boards from 35 to 10, now transcends Ontario’s urban-rural political divide, extending deep into the heart of bedrock conservative areas of the province.In briefing notes obtained by the Star over the weekend, the Mayors And Regional Chairs of Ontario (MARCO) joined the opposition to the proposed cuts, calling on the Ford government to halt plans that “will have a significant negative impact on the health, safety and general well-being of the residents of Ontario.”The three-page MARCO document warns that in its plan to separate public health units from municipalities and replace the 35 existing bodies with 10 regional health boards, the province runs the risk creating a layer of “large, arm’s length unaccountable boards” that will wield the power to levy costs on municipalities with limited local input.“Money invested into public health is money well-spent, with an excellent return on investment — and is critical to the province’s stated goal of ending hallway medicine,” the MARCO memo concludes.“In contrast, the planned cuts to public health are short-sighted and, over the long-term, are almost certain to result in higher overall health-care system costs.”Read more:Ford’s strategy of hitting municipalities with budget cuts, service downloads is ‘risky’ politics, expert saysOpinion | Edward Keenan: Ford government and Toronto dispute the extent of the public health cuts. Here’s what I think is going onOpinion | Thomas Walkom: Doug Ford’s OHIP move strikes at the heart of medicareToronto Councillor J ...
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