Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said Wednesday that the province has the responsibility to help a three-year-old boy who was earlier denied health-care coverage for a surgery that will prevent him from going blind.

McGuinty's comments came just days after Liam Reid's mom, Kristina Reid, appeared on CTV's Canada AM in a last-ditch effort to get sight-saving surgery for her son after Ontario refused to pay for the surgery using out-of-country services.

Liam, from Whitby, Ont., has a rare genetic disorder called Persistent Fetal Vasculature Syndrome, also known as Norrie's disease, that is robbing him of his sight.

Liam has already lost all vision in his right eye and doctors in Ontario have said they are not able to operate on his left eye, but there is a surgeon in Michigan who is able to.

Without the surgery, Liam, who currently has low levels of vision in his right eye, could be entirely blind by the time he is four.

On Wednesday, McGuinty told reporters that he had met the "remarkable little boy" when the Reids came to Queen's Park to meet with Health Minister Deb Matthews.

McGuinty guaranteed that the boy would get the treatment he needs.

"If we can't guarantee, to Liam, that he's going to get great-quality care here, in the province of Ontario, we've got a responsibility to fund that care elsewhere," McGuinty said.

McGuinty said that the health minister is looking into the matter and checking to determine whether that the surgery Liam needs can be provided in Ontario.

"I think we're kind of at a point, right now, determining whether or not we can, in fact, offer that quality care here," McGuinty said.

The Reids have already paid spent $45,000 out of their own pockets on surgeries for Liam in the United States, but told Canada AM that they can't afford to pay for any further surgeries.

"We don't really understand what's happening here because there is another child with the same disease and he's being treated out of country by the same physician. So we don't understand why this is happening," Reid told CTV's Canada AM Monday

In 2009, Liam had surgery on his right eye at the Hospital for Sick Children. The surgery was unsuccessful and he is now completely blind in that eye.

Liam's family has been fighting to have their son's surgery covered by the province for almost three years.