Doug Ford's joke about sending overflow patients to vet draws ire

Ontario's opposition parties are criticizing Premier Doug Ford for joking about sending "overflow" human patients to a new animal hospital.

Ford spoke Tuesday at the opening of a large new veterinary facility north of Toronto, an event attended by several other cabinet ministers, and said, "by the looks of it we know where we can send the overflow patients now for MRIs and CAT scans and everything else."

A spokesperson for the premier says he was making a joke referring to the size of the 60,000-square-foot, four-storey hospital and that the government has made record investments in the public health-care system, including dozens of new MRI machines and CT scanners in hospitals.

But opposition parties say the state of Ontario's health-care system isn't humorous, as patients can face long waits for diagnostic tests and emergency care.

NDP Leader Marit Stiles says Ford thinks the "chaos and crisis" he has created is a laughing matter.

Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie says the joke is not funny, it's "repulsive."

The Ontario Liberal Party's health critic, Adil Shamji, held a news conference Wednesday to respond to Ford's comments, saying the premier needs to apologize for the joke. He called it "cruel" and "heartless" at a time when so many Ontarians are waitlisted for MRI and CT scans.

As The Canadian Press reported in June, the average wait time in Ontario for CT scans is currently 81 days. For MRIs, it's 90 days.

Shamji said Ford's government needs to spend more on health care to reduce those wait times.

"This is a man who can spend a billion dollars to bring alcohol into convenience stores one year early, but when faced with a crisis in health care, can suggest only that people turn to the vet," Shamji told reporters.

"This is Doug Ford's 'let them eat cake' moment," he said.

In an effort to reduce wait times for scans, the province announced in June it's looking to double the number of publicly funded MRIs and CT scans offered through private clinics in Ontario. Health Minister Sylvia Jones said at the time that could provide an additional 100,000 scans each year.