QUEEN’S PARK — The Ford government’s announcement of $20 million for health research to look for a COVID-19 vaccine follows Doug Ford’s $25 million cut to the Health System Research Fund one year ago.
That $25-million cut to the Health System Research Fund was part of the $51-million slash to Health Policy and Research, overall.
At the time, a spokeswoman for Health Minister Christine Elliott said there will be a “respectful wind-down period for impacted organizations.” Those are the same research operations the Ford government is now relying on to find a COVID-19 vaccine.
“Researchers could have been working on the global challenge of a COVID-19 vaccine earlier, if Doug Ford hadn’t cut their funding and wound down their work a year ago,” said Research and Innovation critic Catherine Fife (Waterloo).