This week on On the Ledge, Dave Trafford is joined by Keith Leslie, John Wright, Tim Hudak, and Kathleen Wynne for a wide-ranging conversation centred on the Ontario Auditor General’s annual report.

The panel digs deeply into the issues revealed around Ontario’s healthcare system—particularly physician billing, outdated OHIP technology, primary-care shortages, administrative burdens, and the lack of coherent province-wide planning for family medicine.

They explore systemic breakdowns highlighted in the AG’s findings, including mismanaged PPE procurement and expired stock, and reflect on long-standing structural weaknesses governments have failed to address since SARS and COVID-19.

The group also examines the demographic “time bomb” facing the healthcare system, the looming retirement wave among physicians, and the fiscal implications of an aging population. They debate partisan advertising thresholds after the AG flagged government-funded promotional campaigns, and they consider governance issues within Ontario’s regulatory bodies in light of the Ricoh/IPRO real estate scandal.

The episode closes with a discussion on EQAO results, support for teachers, and the political risks surrounding potential reforms to Ontario’s school boards.

CHAPTERS & TIMECODES

00:00 – Introduction & Around the Table Opening of the show; panel check-in; light conversation about dogs, calendars, and family stories.
03:00 – Auditor General’s Healthcare Findings Discussion of physician billing outliers, lack of accountability, antiquated OHIP billing technology, administrative burdens, and the failure to modernize systems.
12:00 – Primary Care Shortages & Medical Education Gaps Panel examines the AG’s concerns about family-doctor shortages, insufficient planning for medical-school seats, and the undervaluing of primary-care physicians.
16:00 – PPE Waste, Procurement Failures & COVID Lessons Not Learned Review of $1.4B in written-off PPE, expired stock, supply-chain mismanagement, and recurring systemic gaps dating back to SARS.
21:00 – Demographic Reckoning & Long-Term Healthcare Pressures Aging population, long-term care demands, fiscal strain, infrastructure needs, and the political challenges of preparing for 2035–2041.
26:00 – Government Advertising, Partisanship & Oversight Debate over the AG’s findings on $112M in government ads, non-partisan rules, auditor oversight, and the need for clearer safeguards.
35:00 – Real Estate Regulation Crisis: Ricoh & the IPRO Scandal Why the minister dissolved the Ricoh board, trust-fund failures, regulatory breakdowns and the first-ever appointment of an administrator.
41:00 – EQAO Results, Curriculum Pressures & Speculation on School Board Reform Discussion on rising but insufficient test scores, lack of teacher support for new curriculum, and hints of major governance changes ahead.



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