TORONTO - The Progressive Conservatives accuse Premier Kathleen Wynne of calling the June 12 election to bury a highly critical report into Ontario's troubled Ornge air ambulance service.
Former Tory MPP Frank Klees, who led the Opposition charge on allegations of corruption and mismanagement at Ornge, has released the confidential report of a legislative committee that was shelved by the election call.
Klees says he's convinced Wynne dissolved the legislature on Friday, May 2 -- even though elections can't officially start until a Wednesday -- because the Ornge report was to be released Monday, May 5.
He says the report expresses concerns about decisions made at the most senior levels in the Ministry of Health, including "the failure of the minister to respond to repeated warnings about Ornge mismanagement and health and safety risks."
Klees says he was struggling with the fact that the unanimous committee report wasn't made public, and decided to release it after Ornge was hit with 17 labour code charges Friday stemming from a 2013 crash in Moosonee that claimed four lives.
The veteran Tory, who is not seeking re-election, says he felt he owed it to the pilots and front line staff at Ornge to make the 150-page report public.
