Nickel Belt MPP and NDP health promotion critic France Gélinas claims that the Ministry of Health Promotion has cut Smoke Free Ontario's budget by almost one third.

According to figures compiled by the Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco (OCAT) Strategy, funding has been reduced from $60-million last year to $42.8-million this year, stated Gélinas, in a news release.

“Almost every Smoke Free Ontario program has been cut, including prevention, cessation and public education,” Gélinas said.
 
“It makes absolutely no economic sense to cut $17-million to keep people from picking up a tobacco addiction while we continue to pay $1.7-billion for the treatment of diseases related to tobacco addiction.”

Gélinas says the cuts are particularly galling given the massive amount of money wasted at eHealth Ontario.
 
“Ontarians have witnessed how $1-billion was just wasted at eHealth with very little to show for it and yet we see the McGuinty government cutting the very programs that are needed to reduce health care costs in the future,” said Gélinas.
 
“The government needs to invest in keeping people healthy rather than paying a whole bunch more to treat them when they’re sick. These cuts are shortsighted and will cost us much more in the long run. After all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure – especially during a recession.”