Why would McGuinty's Liberals launch a witch-hunt against Ontario's Ombudsman?

After reading the National Post's May 18, 2010 story "McGuinty slammed over ombudsman", and Bob Ferguson's May 18, 2010 Toronto Star article "McGuinty roasted for smears of ombudsman Andre Marin", we can now plainly see the lengths to which Ontario's secretive ruling regime of Liberal scumbags will stoop to protect themselves from any substantial investigation into their failing single-payer health monopoly.

The ombudsman is really the only official which Ontarians have who can stand up to McGuinty's disgusting Liberals - and now the Grits are attacking him any which way they can.

This is the slimeball Liberal party of Jim Bradley, of Kim Craitor, of George Smitherman.

Ontarians need to realize the disgusting mess which Smitherman, McGuinty, Craitor, and Bradley created when they forced Niagara's health system to close two ER's in the Niagara Region. The Liberal scumbag apologists' tired-old "new" narrative is [of course] to blame Harris (!), but, to be plainly clear, once again, for the morons who don't, or refuse to, get it: Liberal health minister Smitherman forced the NHS to make the cuts! The NHS didn't just come up with this scheme all on their own!! This was a McGuinty-led Liberal initiative. This happened under the guidance and approval of every LHIN-loving Liberal in Ontario - including Mr. so-called 'good guy' Kim Craitor - who voted for the creation of Smitherman's LHIN's. To now pretend golly-gee-shucks that he doesn't agree with them DOES NOT absolve Craitor - in whose riding the cuts were made - of responsibility.

And it was another Liberal health minister, David Caplan, who - when there was still time - simply refused to over-rule the Niagara LHIN's decision to approve the Kitts HIP plan - a plan which McGuinty's own Liberal government [not Harris!!!] forced the NHS into preparing.

And let's not forget that the LHIN legislation, known as Bill 36, was solidly opposed by both the Conservatives and the NDP. Kim Craitor openly and willingly went along with Smitherman's LHIN creation, and Kim Craitor is responsible, along with all his fellow Liberal thugs, for the subsequent results. Until Kim Craitor grows a set of balls and quits McGuinty's Liberals in disgust, he's part of the problem.

Where's the ombudsman's report into the Niagara-specific LHIN, anyway?

Are the Liberals suppressing it - as they have also suppressed their own promised legislative review into all their LHIN's?

If the McGuintyites are successful and hound Andre Marin out of office with their political witch-hunt, this will be an extremely ominous, and dangerous, political precedent for Ontario. We already know and have seen that McGuinty's authoritarian regime cannot stand transparency or scrutiny, no matter how much they hollowly claim to be 'open'. Dalton McGuinty has a majority and will continue to peddle his Liberal lies and deceptions at will; there is nothing we can do. The Liberals' attempted crushing of the ombudsman's office is despicable and truly shocking - however, to anyone who has read Liberal healthcare duplicity, this latest Liberal attempt to hide from scrutiny is NOT UNEXPECTED.

It appears that McGuinty and his duplicitous Liberals want a friendly lap-dog ombudsman, one who would kiss McGuinty's ass and merrily rubber-stamp whatever McGuinty told him to. McGuinty wants to skew the results ahead of time; McGuinty wants to create a sham to make it look like the ombudsman's office is independent - a predictable Liberal penchant for 'appearance over substance'. The ombudsman's office and its review process are the last resort for many to challenge McGuinty's policies

But there is another way (and unfortunately, it is the longest way - the way McGuinty, by neutralizing the ombudsman's effectiveness, is forcing us Ontarians to consider), and this last option is to call for a judicial challenge to McGuinty's LHIN's policy. On this I'm reminded of Tunde Szathmary's prescient letter from FOUR YEARS ago, when the extent of Smitherman's LHIN fiasco was not yet generally well understood, "Concerns remain over LHIN's" (Welland Tribune, Mar.1, 2006):

"Re: Concern over services Feb. 27 and Foyer Richelieu
Protection for French language health care services has been improved under amendments to Bill 36. Not only will the Minister establish a French language health services advisory council to inform on health and service delivery issues at the provincial level, each LHIN will be required as part of its community engagement to include a French language health planning entity.
Comparable aboriginal and first nations council and planning entities have been added as well, which could help the Metis LTC sector that I understand from previous Tribune volunteer notices also operates in Niagara.
These are the only communities officially recognized for a special voice, although the LHINs may yet establish other advisory committees at their discretion. The changes do not guarantee protection of services but facilitates input into decisions.
The public has also gotten a somewhat greater voice insofar as anyone can now make a submission regarding an integration decision, which will be announced on ministry and LHIN websites in addition to other official means of dissemination.
Unfortunately, what is given on one hand may be taken away by the other. After the review period the LHIN may go ahead with its original decision or make changes, not subject to further review. A bad decision can, therefore, be made worse.
Given the government's failure to address many of the shortcomings in Bill 36 raised in over 300 submissions, I am left feeling that Ontarians will now have 14 health care systems to cope with instead of one that, admittedly, was challenged with multiple turfs. Rearranging "health care cubbyholes" in this way may indeed work locally but as a family caregiver in Toronto also living as a family caregiver in Welland, I am disheartened about where my experience, burdens and needs will be given voice.
I have noted that a Bill 36 amendment requires a committee of the house to review the legislation and regulations in three years. My group now has to decide whether we have the resources to begin monitoring LHIN activities and consequences so as to have evidence for the future. Unfortunately, neither the implementation of the LHINs nor even disastrous decisions will likely be reversible after the fact.
I have appreciated The Tribune's LHIN coverage and look forward to being kept informed about other service and support concerns, and especially, about any private bills that local MPPs may bring forward regarding the LHINs."

At first, Ontarians had to trust that George Smitherman knew what he was doing with his LHIN's; now that it's become a disaster, Smitherman has slithered off to feed at another trough, yet we're stuck with his stench. Ontarians also trusted that there would be an ombudsman's process to help. Who knew that instead of transparency, McGuinty's Liberals would become venomous lying snakes, forcing the general population into having to gather evidence against them ??!! And as for the supposed LHIN-reviews which Szathmary mentioned - well, we of course see that was a McGuinty Liberal lie as well - another broken promise, another deception - by Ontario's premier scumbags.