Opposition parties are hammering the provincial government over expenses claimed by consultants at eHealth Ontario and $5 million in untendered contracts awarded by the provincial agency since it was formed last fall.

Both PC and NDP members claim that eHealth Ontario's top managers gave $5 million worth of business to friends and Liberal-friendly firms without putting the contracts out to tender.

On Wednesday, France Gelinas, the NDP for critic for health and long-term care, said "heads have to roll" at the provincial agency and PC health critic Elizabeth Witmer said Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty must denounce eHealth Ontario's outrageous spending.

"We see eHealth with outrageous spending, hiring their friends and excessive contracts given to consultants," Witmer told reporters Wednesday.

"Taxpayers are outraged at the billings of these consultants, whether it's the per diem fee or whether it's the fee they charge for their coffee or doughnut, which other people are not allowed to do."

Some of the expenses that eHealth Ontario employees have billed to taxpayers include:

  • A $114,000 bonus for the CEO after she had worked at eHealth Ontario for only three months
  • Daily compensation rates of $2,700 for some eHealth Ontario consultants
  • Consultants have billed taxpayers for small food items -- including $5.69 for a box of Tetley tea bags and $1.59 for a can of Coca-Cola

At Queen's Park on Wednesday morning, talk quickly turned to the spending at eHealth Ontario.

PC Finance Critic Tim Hudak told the legislature that two consultants billed $750 combined for a 90 minute phonecall on Jan. 5. One of the consultants billed $450 for services rendered to eHealth Ontario during the phonecall, the other billed $300.

EHealth Ontario is tasked with developing a electronic health record for all Ontarians.

The system is supposed to be ready by 2015.

The provincial agency was created after its predecessor, Smart Systems Health Agency, spent $650 million to create similar electronic health records, but failed to create anything of substance.

On Tuesday, the provincial government said it would hire PriceWaterhouseCoopers to conduct an outside review of spending habits and expense abuses at eHealth Ontario.

The provincial auditor general has also been called in to investigate the matter.

Opposition members have also pushed for the resignation of provincial Health Minister David Caplan.

On Wednesday, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath questioned when "the premier will clean house" and replace his health minister.

In response, Caplan said that the premier shares his view that private sector consultants should not be billing for expenses that are unnecessary, just because they are able to fill out the paperwork to do so.

"We expect that private sector consultants abide by not only the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law as well," he said.

McGuinty said he preferred to wait for the auditor general's report on the matter before making any changes at eHealth Ontario.

"Nobody's so important that we shouldn't be taking a look at how we're managing taxpayer dollars and making sure we have the rules in place that are respectful of Ontarians," McGuinty said.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Paul Bliss and files from The Canadian Press