Ontario’s Ford Government Put Back Less for Heatth Rsearch Than It Cut from it before Pandemic

FACT CHECK: Before COVID-19 Outbreak, Ford cut    $25 million from the Health System Research Fund

A News Release from Ontario’s NDP Official Opposition Party

Posted April 19^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

QUEEN’S P ARK, Ontario– The Ford government’s announcement of $20 million for health research to look for a COVID-19 vaccine follows Doug Ford’s $25 million cut to the Health System Research Fund one year ago.

That $25-million cut to the Health System Research Fund was part of the $51-million slash to Health Policy and Research, overall.

At the time, a spokeswoman for Health Minister Christine Elliott said there will be a “respectful wind-down period for impacted organizations.” Those are the same research operations the Ford government is now relying on to find a COVID-19 vaccine.

“Researchers could have been working on the global challenge of a COVID-19 vaccine earlier, if Doug Ford hadn’t cut their funding and wound down their work a year ago,” said Research and Innovation critic Catherine Fife (Waterloo).

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