Get a “private room”: Ford pollster mocks MP Jivani’s hospital overcrowding concerns

Premier Doug Ford’s preferred pollster and strategist, Nick Kouvalis, mocked a federal Conservative MP who raised concerns about hospital overcrowding, suggesting he should pay for a “private room.”

Source: X (Nick Kouvalis, Jamil Jivani)

Premier Doug Ford’s preferred pollster and strategist, Nick Kouvalis, mocked a federal Conservative MP who raised concerns about hospital overcrowding, suggesting he should pay for a “private room.” This came after the MP’s mother was forced to share a room with a male patient.

After Conservative MP Jamil Jivani shared a story of long wait times and his mother’s experience, Campaign Research founder Nick Kouvalis said Jivani should have paid for a private room for his mother, adding he would not have let his own mother endure long wait times.

“Growing up, what I remember about any time I went to a hospital was 4 people to a room – unless of course, you could afford a private room. You’re making more than $210,000 per year, plus all the perks….. Get your mom a private room,” he said in a post on X. “Frankly, I wouldn’t have let my mom wait months and years for a surgery. And he wants to lecture us about “theatrics”?”

During a debate on the Liberals’ Bill C-3, which would expand Canadian citizenship eligibility to descendants of people with a “substantial connection to Canada,” Jivani shared his mother’s story in the House of Commons. He lamented long wait times and a man being placed in his mother’s hospital room overnight, due to overcrowding.

“The Liberals would like to make it easier for people who have never stepped foot in Canada to obtain Canadian citizenship. It is absurd. It is outrageous. The population growth the Liberals have already inflicted upon our country has put us in a vulnerable position on many fronts,” Jivani said. “The reality is that they want to hand Canadian citizenship out like candies at the counter.”

Jivani attributed long wait times and an overwhelmed healthcare system to mass immigration. He said a Toronto hospital placed a man in his mother’s room overnight, citing the “physical vulnerability” of someone recovering from major surgery. Staff informed Jivani that the hospital did so due to overcrowding and underfunding.

Jivani also said his mother waited “far too long for her surgery date,” something he called “the norm in Canada.” He said by the time his mother accessed the surgeon, the damage to her hip was “10 out of 10.”

According to a Fraser Institute study last year, Canadians waited a median of 30 weeks between a general practitioner’s referral and treatment. Ontarians waited an average of 23.6 weeks in 2024, up two weeks from 2023.

Kouvalis did not respond to requests for comment, but in a post on X, he responded to being connected to the Ford government.

“With respect to Premier Ford and his government, I am one of many public opinion pollsters the government asks to do polling. I do it. I share it – that’s my job,” he said in a post.

Last week, Kouvalis made crude remarks on X, alleging that Jivani had a sexual relationship with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, saying Jivani could “suck and blow better than most.”

Ford did not respond to requests to comment at the time.

On Tuesday, Kouvalis added that Jamil’s friend Vance is only in politics for power, implying Jivani is inconsistent when criticizing those in politics for the wrong reasons.

Ontarians waited 159.3 per cent more than the 9.1-week average wait time in 1993.

One SecondStreet poll, from November 2024, found that 47 per cent of Canadians avoided visiting a healthcare provider due to “overwhelming wait times.” Forty-six per cent of Ontarians reported avoiding healthcare visits for the same reason.

In July 2024, one Ontario doctor, Mike Hart, showed True North a doctor’s note from an ear, nose and throat specialist. The note said the patient Hart referred for the specialist would have to wait over three years to see the specialist. Hart said a “growing population” was one of the factors contributing to long wait times.

Alexander Brown, a commentator at the National Citizens Coalition and host of the “Not ‘Sorry’” show at Juno News, blasted Kouvalis on X, saying Kouvalis was more focused on hating Jivani than having consideration for Ontarians who are faced with troubles in the healthcare system due to overcrowding.

“An incredibly thoughtless, ‘I don’t have this problem, so it doesn’t matter to me’ response to a healthcare system in shambles, born out of nothing but apparent disdain for the messenger,” Brown said in a post.

Ford’s office and Health Minister Sylvia Jones did not respond to True North’s requests for comment on whether Kouvalis’ opinion represents the Ontario government’s position.