NDP Leader Howard Hampton wants to know why Dalton McGuinty is letting down Ontario′s disabled citizens.

Today, Ontario′s Ombudsman sounded the alarm about a “bureaucratic nightmare” that is denying disabled citizens disability benefits they are legally entitled to.

In Question Period, Hampton demanded answers from the McGuinty government.

“No disabled citizen of Ontario should be denied the benefits they′re legally entitled to because the McGuinty government can′t its act together,” Hampton said.

The Ombudsman′s report, titled “Losing the Waiting Game”, finds that 4,600 disabled citizens in Ontario have lost out on $6 million in much-needed benefits because of widespread delays and backlogs at the Ministry of Community and Social Services.

The McGuinty government has a double standard for dealing with the powerful and the vulnerable, Hampton said.

“In Dalton McGuinty′s Ontario, hydro executives get million-dollar salaries, gold-plated perks and outrageous bonuses. But the disabled, some of Ontario′s most vulnerable citizens, are being denied $6 million in benefits for basic necessities of life like food, shelter and clothing,” Hampton said.

“I agree with the Ombudsman – this treatment of the disabled is cruel, shameful, and morally repugnant,” he said.

Hampton called on the government to provide restitution to the disabled, so people who have lost out on much-needed benefits because of McGuinty government bungling get the assistance they need.