TORONTO -
Premier Dalton McGuinty scrambled Wednesday to replace his departing health minister just minutes before the province's auditor general delivered a scathing report into a troubled agency tasked with creating electronic health records.
Children and Youth Services Minister Deb Matthews is replacing David Caplan. The political veteran resigned as health minister Tuesday over the report that found a lack of government oversight allowed consultants to run amok as the province spent $1 billion at eHealth Ontario with little to show for it.
Backbencher Laurel Broten, a former environment minister, will be brought back into cabinet to take over Children and Youth Services from Matthews.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, who along with the Opposition Conservatives have called for Caplan's head for months, demanded to know Wednesday why it took so long for the minister to leave.
"I felt it was appropriate under the circumstances to wait for the work to be completed by the auditor general," Premier Dalton McGuinty told the legislature.
"We now all have the benefit of work that is thorough, objective and helpful. On the basis of that report ... Minister Caplan tendered his resignation and I accepted that."
The shuffle doesn't touch Energy and Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman, who has also come under fire for the untendered contracts awarded under his four-year watch as health minister.
Smitherman, who is mulling a bid for Toronto mayor, bristled at accusations that Caplan fell on his sword to protect the deputy premier's political ambitions.
"I haven't any doubt whatsoever that there are lessons that I can learn, that we can all learn because of the investigation that has occurred," Smitherman told the legislature.
Opposition parties had called for Caplan's resignation since details surfaced about the millions of dollars in untendered contracts awarded to consultants as well as questionable expenses at eHealth.
Auditor General Jim McCarter's report links the awarding of untendered contracts to McGuinty's role in the hiring of CEO Sarah Kramer.
McCarter says the board of directors at eHealth felt it had little power over Kramer because she had been hired by chairman Alan Hudson "with the support of the premier."
There was also a $30-million, sole-sourced contract given to IBM, which was approved by a cabinet committee, not by eHealth executives.
The government replaced Kramer and Hudson this summer, but the Conservatives and NDP maintained that a cabinet minister must also be held accountable for the scandal.
Minutes after the report was released, the government released two boxes full of binders containing hundreds of pages of freedom-of-information requests from eHealth and the ministry.
Premier Dalton McGuinty scrambled Wednesday to replace his departing health minister just minutes before the province's auditor general delivered a scathing report into a troubled agency tasked with creating electronic health records.
Children and Youth Services Minister Deb Matthews is replacing David Caplan. The political veteran resigned as health minister Tuesday over the report that found a lack of government oversight allowed consultants to run amok as the province spent $1 billion at eHealth Ontario with little to show for it.
Backbencher Laurel Broten, a former environment minister, will be brought back into cabinet to take over Children and Youth Services from Matthews.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, who along with the Opposition Conservatives have called for Caplan's head for months, demanded to know Wednesday why it took so long for the minister to leave.
"I felt it was appropriate under the circumstances to wait for the work to be completed by the auditor general," Premier Dalton McGuinty told the legislature.
"We now all have the benefit of work that is thorough, objective and helpful. On the basis of that report ... Minister Caplan tendered his resignation and I accepted that."
The shuffle doesn't touch Energy and Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman, who has also come under fire for the untendered contracts awarded under his four-year watch as health minister.
Smitherman, who is mulling a bid for Toronto mayor, bristled at accusations that Caplan fell on his sword to protect the deputy premier's political ambitions.
"I haven't any doubt whatsoever that there are lessons that I can learn, that we can all learn because of the investigation that has occurred," Smitherman told the legislature.
Opposition parties had called for Caplan's resignation since details surfaced about the millions of dollars in untendered contracts awarded to consultants as well as questionable expenses at eHealth.
Auditor General Jim McCarter's report links the awarding of untendered contracts to McGuinty's role in the hiring of CEO Sarah Kramer.
McCarter says the board of directors at eHealth felt it had little power over Kramer because she had been hired by chairman Alan Hudson "with the support of the premier."
There was also a $30-million, sole-sourced contract given to IBM, which was approved by a cabinet committee, not by eHealth executives.
The government replaced Kramer and Hudson this summer, but the Conservatives and NDP maintained that a cabinet minister must also be held accountable for the scandal.
Minutes after the report was released, the government released two boxes full of binders containing hundreds of pages of freedom-of-information requests from eHealth and the ministry.
