Premier Kathleen Wynne says there are efforts being made to see if residents can be compensated for some financial losses they might have suffered because of the ice storm.

“We are looking into where there might the possibility to get some compensation . . . but obviously there are insurance claims that will be made after this whole thing is done,” Wynne told reporters Friday.

Given that there are still 32,000 customers in Toronto and 5,000 in rural Ontario without power still one week after the storm, tempers are flaring and critics are pointing fingers at the province and Toronto city hall.

Wynne went on the defensive against criticism that the government hasn’t done enough to reassure the public in the wake of the ice storm that cut a swath through southern Ontario.

In what has became a daily briefing since the storm struck almost more a week ago, Wynne said members of her minority Liberal government have been “on the ground” making sure that everything possible was being done to restore power.

“We have had a government presence in all parts of the affected areas ,” she said.

One Progressive Conservative MPP criticized Liberal Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli, saying he has all but been invisible following the ice storm.

“Your absence in the in the last week has been noticeable and makes me question your commitment and desire to carry out your duties and mandate,” Lisa MacLeod said a letter to Chiarelli.

Chiarelli’s staff countered he has been in constant contact with energy officials from London, Ont., to Brockville since the storm hit, as well as appearing on television Friday.

Wynne, too, has come under fire for not straying outside the Greater Toronto Area to check on other areas affected by the ice storm — the worst to hit the province since the devastating 1998 storm that crippled eastern Ontario.

“We have played a co-ordinating roll through Emergency Management Ontario. My office has been engaged since before the storm hit actually,” Wynne explained.

“I have been in many places as I can possibly be and I will continue to do that and my team has been on the ground since before the storm hit and we will continue to be working with all the affected communities,” she said.

Wynne said it is her responsibility to make sure the efforts to restore power are co-ordinated, “and we have been doing that.”

The premier said she has not doubted for one moment that hydro crews from across the province and as far away as Manitoba weren’t working flat out.

“Overall, the way the system has responded has been excellent,” she said, adding, however “that is a very trying time” for those still without electricity.”

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Wynne said door-to-door checks by police have been implemented both inside and outside Toronto to make sure residents without power are being cared for.

“My heart goes out to people who are still dealing with power loss in their home but everyone is working and doing the very utmost. We will continue until every light is on,” she said.

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