eHealth Ontario is not for sale: Wynne's privatization guru

The man who advisedPremier Kathleen Wynne's government to sell a majority stake in Hydro One is now examiningeHealthOntariobut heinsists that doesn't mean another"For Sale" sign is about to appear.

Ed Clark, theformer president of TD Bank Group, is being asked forrecommendationsonhow to "maximize the value"of the province's digital medicalsystem.

eHealthOntario, a government-owned independent agency, has spent in the range of $350 million to $400 million annually over the past several years to builda system of electronic medicalrecords for patients.

• Wynne governmentasksbanker who pushed Hydro One selloff to assess eHealth
• Ontario misses target for all patients to havedigital medicalrecords
• Hydro One: Biggest sell-off of a Crown corporation in 20 years

Clark says that sellingany part of the province's digital health infrastructure is "absolutely" off the table.

"There's nothing ineHealththat anybody could think about selling," Clark told reporters in Toronto on Monday.

He said he'll be looking for ways the government can "get more out of" the digital health network. "Some of the stuff is so good that people want to license it and do it in other provinces," Clark said.

Still, his assignment has critics nervous.Clark was given a similar missionback in 2014 to giveadvice on how to "maximize the value" of Hydro One, Ontario Power Generation andtheLCBO. That led to the government's move to privatizeHydro One, selling up to 60 per cent of its shareson the stock market.

Clark's statement on eHealth "does not reassure me," NDP finance critic Catherine Fife told CBC News. "His experience in valuing public assets means selling public assets."

While Clark is often labelled the government's "privatizationczar," he insists his role chairingthe province's AdvisoryCouncil on Government Assets is broader than just finding Crown agencies toprivatize.

"It's not like we have a little formula that says, 'Sell, sell, sell,' no matter what it is," Clark said. He's been given a deadline to provide his advice on eHealth by Christmas.

The government and eHealth fell short of theoriginal target to ensure every Ontarian had a digital medical record by 2015. About 80 per cent of family doctors are currently using electronic health records.

In theLegislatureon Monday, Wynnetried to allay fears thatthe system of digital medical recordscould be privatized.

"Patient informationis not and will not and never should be up for sale,"Wynne said."I think it's responsible aseHealthreaches the end of its mandate in 2017 that we understand the value of those investments and we look at whether there is a way to understand the value of those digital assets."

"eHealth is not for sale," added deputy premier Deb Matthews.