Résumé
The Commission was struck to investigate how the SARS virus came to the province, how the virus spread and how it was dealt with. It looked at all aspects of the outbreak, including measures taken to protect the public and health workers. The first interim report (April 2004) addressed the problems of public health infrastructure in Ontario. The second interim report (April 2005) addressed deficiencies in Ontario health protection and emergency response laws.The final report includes a detailed recounting of the chronology of the SARS outbreak, in-depth analysis of key events in Phases one and two, and a total of 92 recommendations to the provincial government. Many of the recommendations for managing a future infectious disease crisis advocate for the involvement of the Ministry of Labour in preparing and reviewing directives and communications, promoting a safety culture in health workplaces, establishing infection control expertise, setting occupational health and safety standards, and participating in the Regional Infection Control Networks. The Commission recommends that the Ministry of Labour take lead responsibility for setting and enforcing work safety policies, procedures and standards in the health care sector, as it does in all workplaces. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labour should develop protocols, processes and procedures to ensure coordination where their respective responsibilities overlap. The Commission recommendations address development of an effective distribution of outbreak alerts, and clarification of respective roles and responsibilities of public health and hospitals regarding risk communication. The Commission also recommends applying the “precautionary principle” and the recommendations regarding the Ministry of Labour’s responsibility for worker safety policies, to the development and implementation of Ontario’s pandemic plan.