The rapid spread of syphilis and chlamydia. The return of measles. Escalating risks of E. coli and salmonella in Ontario drinking water.
A group of unionized health inspectors described a deteriorating public health system in Ontario at a media briefing held Wednesday morning at Queen’s Park. And they placed the blame squarely at the feet of the Ford government, citing the fact that funding for public health has been slashed below pre-pandemic levels.
“What will it take?” Merima Kostecki, an inspector for Southeast Public Health asked reporters during the briefing. “Another Walkerton?” In 2000, following budget cuts, there was a massive E. coli outbreak in the Ontario town of Walkerton, killing seven and sickening 2,000 others.
Ontario’s public health programs and agencies — which are distinct from the province’s hospitals and health care services — focus on disease prevention and control, screening for health conditions, and public education. Kosteski and two other inspectors unionized with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) focused on three categories of public health where they are seeing rapid declines.
The first was infectious diseases, and specifically measles. The highly contagious infectious disease was nearly eradicated in Canada, but came raging back in recent years through a combination of vaccine hesitancy, disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic and misinformation. This year, Canada has recorded 4,855 confirmed and another 367 probable measles cases, including 2,056 confirmed and 320 probable cases across Ontario.
The second category was sexual health. The inspectors noted that chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis are all on the rise, including a 1,685% increase in syphilis rates in the Sault and Algoma District between 2019 to 2023.
“These diseases are preventable, they are treatable, they were nearly wiped-out decades ago – and now they’re spreading across Ontario,” Kostecki said. “We have children being born with congenital syphilis and measles. This is unacceptable, and it’s a direct result of this government’s choices that have shattered our public health system.”
The final category was the escalating risk of E. coli and salmonella in Ontario’s drinking water. Chris Eaton, an inspector with Lakelands Public Health, noted that 34% of non-municipal water systems regulated by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks have not been inspected in over 5 years. Earlier this year, Ontario’s auditor general found that less than one-third of the 1.3 million Ontario residents who rely on private wells for their drinking water had it tested within the previous twelve months.
“Today we are sleepwalking into another disaster [like Walkerton],” Eaton said. “We have hundreds of small drinking water systems in this province that aren’t being inspected, as legally required, every single year. This puts Ontarians at risk of serious illness, and it is unacceptable.”
Public health agencies received $62.19 per capita in 2024 – more than $5 less than the rates in 2016, according to the CUPE inspectors. At the start of 2025, the Ontario Ministry of Health approved the voluntary merger of nine local public health units (PHUs) into four entities, in an attempt to reduce the duplication of services.
Ontario hospitals, the funding of which is separate from public health agencies, are also in trouble. In October, the Ontario Hospital Association said that hospitals ended last year $360 million in the red, and required an additional $1 billion in funding this year to keep pace with population growth and inflation.
“They think they’re saving money when they cut public health budgets and merge units,” Kostecki told reporters. “But they’re just creating a crisis in communities and hospitals that costs far more. We can’t afford more of the status quo.”
“This year it’s measles and syphilis, next year it could be polio and whooping cough,” she added. “That’s what underfunding public health will lead to.”
The Ministry of Health did not respond to The Grind’s request for comment before publication.
