Dozens of surgeries have been cancelled at Toronto's Sunnybrook hospital due to a backlog of patients, prompting opposition politicians to demand answers from the government.

The hospital is struggling with a busy emergency department, pushing it to the limit.

Hospital president and chief executive officer Leo Steven explained the situation to staff members in an email message, The Globe and Mail reported.

"Our ED (emergency department) cares for the most acutely ill patients in the GTA and it is difficult to manage the demand," the Globe quoted Steven's email message.

"We cannot turn away ambulances or people who arrive here for care."

As a result, surgeries are being cancelled. Thirty operations were cancelled in December because ward beds were not available. Twelve of those were cancer cases, the newspaper said.

The situation is placing Dalton McGuinty's Liberal government under fire from the Official Opposition. The Progressive Conservatives want to know how the healthcare system could be struggling with $2.5 billion in health tax revenue filling government coffers every year.

"The public have eyes and ears and they can smell a phony a mile away," party leader John Tory said Friday.

Tory blames the premier, saying the government has received three reports in three years about emergency rooms. Tory wonders what the premier is doing with the billions of health tax dollars.

"There are people lying in acute care beds and sometimes upwards of 20 per cent ... are occupied by people who shouldn't be in the hospital at all. They should be in a long-term care bed, but there is nowhere to send them."

Health Minister George Smitherman said Thursday that the government is preparing to open 2,000 new hospital beds in the province. He said a big part of the backlog problem revolves around channeling seniors through the system.

"Some of it is about beds in hospitals. Some of it is about beds in long-term care," Smitherman said.

"And I think a big part of it is about providing the support that our seniors need to be able to live out their days with dignity and independence in the place that they know best, which is their home."

He added that the aging population will only make it more difficult to keep hospitals free to deal with emergencies and surgeries.

Smitherman wants to get more treatment for senior citizens in the community, outside of the hospital setting.

The Liberals also point out that Tory's plan to cut the health tax would only create other problems.

Tory deflects the criticism, saying he has a plan to better manage healthcare resources and funds.

With a report from CTV's Paul Bliss