Ontario's ombudsman launched an investigation Wednesday into the way the province monitors its nursing homes. Andre Marin says he plans to look into the way the Liberal government enforces its standards, and whether those standards are appropriate.

"First, we will investigate the ministry's monitoring of long-term care facilities to ensure compliance with statutory requirements and policy standards," he told reporters at a news conference.

Marin said the second part of the investigation would ask whether "the standards imposed by the ministry (are) unrealistic, trivial or irrelevant to the extent that they detract from effective compliance monitoring."

The announcement came on the heels of media reports that found three-quarters of the province's facilities weren't meeting targets set by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. The standards include regulations on cleanliness, care and safety.

The report found that in seniors in some homes have died while physically restrained. In others, residents have been left in soiled diapers for hours.

Facility operators have complained that several of the 400 provincial benchmarks are not essential to patient care and distract employees from the most important part of their work.

Marin said a recently conducted "pre-investigation" provided sufficient proof that a full examination is required. He said he has also received hundreds of complaints from residents and their families.

"I think that by the very nature of the business, those who are in long-term care facilities don't always have the means to express themselves... We've only touched the tip of the iceberg."

He would like the power to directly investigate conditions inside seniors' homes but the government refuses to change his mandate to allow it, he said.

"For 33 years, six ombudsmen in a row have complained this is an area that has been overlooked," he said. "There's no independent recourse for those who have complaints on how this process is run."

Provincial opposition leaders pointed fingers at the Liberal party upon hearing news of the investigation, saying Premier Dalton McGuinty has not given nursing home operators the funding and guidance they need to run high-quality facilities.

"We have our most vulnerable, most deserving citizens... going with the funding, going without the standard of care that we would expect them to have," Conservative Leader John Tory told CTV Toronto.

McGuinty said he welcomes the probe.

"The fact of the matter is we're on the same side," McGuinty said Wednesday from the premiers' annual meeting in Quebec City.

McGuinty admitted "progress is a little bit slower than we would hope for,'' despite his government having hired thousands of nurses and having spent $1 billion more on long-term care.

"If Mr. Marin can go in there and turn something up for us and give us some good advice, as he's done in so many other areas in the past, I would welcome that," he said.

"I've known Andre for more than 30 years now -- I grew up on the same street. I've never found that he's ever let anything get in the way of getting his job done.''

About 75,000 people live in Ontario's 622 long-term care facilities.

Janet Lambert, executive director of the Ontario Long-Term Care Association, said homes also welcome the investigation, provided it prompts the province to boost staffing and funding in nursing homes.

"Right now, Ontario is actually second to last when it comes to a measure of the qualified people that care for our residents, and that is a per-resident per-day measure," Lambert told Newsnet. "It's second to last compared to the rest of the provinces in Canada, and Ontario shouldn't be second to last."

Lambert said the standards should also be less focused on paperwork and more focused on resident care.

Marin's report will be completed within the next six months.