You may recall last night the PCs tried, in an urgent push, to extend CMOH Dr. David Williams' contract by six months; House Leader Paul Calandra wanted to sit until 3:30 a.m. to do so.

Today, the auditor general released a scathing indictment of Williams' role thus far. https://twitter.com/QPbriefing/status/1331607563662745600

AG Bonnie Lysyk found that Williams has been subordinate to the government, that the Health Command Table is bloated and led by people who aren't health experts, and that the government hasn't always followed the expert advice it does get.

The AG noted Williams does not lead Command Table meetings, even when the CEO of Ontario Health is absent. People who spoke with the AG were surprised to learn he is technically a co-chair.

She also noted Ontario is unique in not having the CMOH be their lead spokesperson.

Instead the premier and cabinet are running the show, the AG found, while public health experts have seen their roles diminished or sidelined. This runs counter to the premier saying he's only following doctor's orders.

Here are some passages from the report:

Last night the PCs argued that Williams has been "invaluable" during the pandemic, with one MPP saying that an all-party committee to review his contract extension looked like "cancel culture."

They accused the opposition of politicizing the issue.

A trio of ministers are now up to respond. Health Minister Christine Elliott says Ontario has the best active case counts per capita in Canada, aside from the Atlantic provinces and territories.

She takes issue with the thrust of the auditor general's report, calling it a "mischaracterization" of the pandemic response.

"We have been decisive at every turn," adds Elliott. The report found that health experts made recommendations in early-July on testing.

They were not followed until late-Sept. when there was a public backlash about the growing testing backlog.

Elliott doubles down on Williams. "I have complete confidence in Dr. Williams," she says.

Elliott, in response to a question from @jessiecatherine, said that the urgent push last night by the PCs to extend Williams' contract had nothing to do with the AG report.

She said it's because his contract is up in Feb.

(This timing has been known for many months.)