NDP Health and Long-Term Care Critic France Gélinas expressed shock today that the McGuinty Liberals still do not know – more than 72 hours after the fact – who issued the order to isolate a VIA train in Foleyet last Friday.

“Post-SARS, Ontarians deserve assurances that the proper chain of command is in place. For the McGuinty Liberals to admit they have no idea who issued the order to quarantine the VIA train in Foleyet does nothing to alleviate concerns that we’re simply not prepared for an outbreak of infectious disease,” said Gélinas, the MPP for Nickel Belt.

At a press conference at Queen’s Park on Friday afternoon, when asked who ordered the train to be quarantined, the province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health said: “We’re still trying to ascertain where that decision was made.”

Today in the Legislature, Gélinas asked the McGuinty Liberals to tell Ontarians who made the decision to quarantine the train. Minister of Health and Long-Term Care George Smitherman responded: “I don’t have the direct answer to the honourable member’s question.”

"I am confident that the local health units, the emergency medical services, and all those at the scene in Foleyet did a fantastic job. But I do have concerns about what protocol was used to call for the isolation of the train, especially if three days later the Minister of Health cannot explain who issued the quarantine order,” said Gélinas.

“Given previous outbreaks of infectious disease in Ontario, the public deserves reassurance that the protocols we have in place are effective. The McGuinty Liberals clearly have more work to do preparing the province for a future outbreak of infectious disease,” said Gélinas.