By MPP Bobbi Ann Brady
On April 24th, Royal Assent was given to the Ford Government’s omnibus “Budget Measures” Bill 97, Plan to Protect Ontario Act, 2026. I voted against the bill as I felt it did little to address the affordability issues I continually hear about. Another key issue I had with the bill was the changes to Ontario’s Freedom of Information (FOI) system.
To be honest, despite what the government says, this is more than a technical policy tweak. Rather it speaks to the core of how accountable this government is to the people of Ontario. The changes included exempting Premier Ford, his cabinet ministers, and parliamentary assistants from being under the microscope of the province’s freedom-of-information laws. Needless to say, I’m far from the only person who is irked by this stunt, which has kicked off anger from across the political spectrum outside the PC Party, you the general public, media, experts, and the province’s privacy commissioner.
FOIs are a conduit between you and the records of public and government institutions. It’s a formal, written request to gain access to records held by provincial ministries, agencies, or municipalities. And here’s what has changed:
Government records, from emails to data, from the premier’s office, cabinet ministers, and parliamentary assistants cease to be subject to FOI statutes. So, if you want a peek at them, no dice. And it’s a retroactive change, so if you have a request currently in the hopper, it might be scuttled. Poking around the web, some are saying backdating the new rules could mean hundreds of requests end up in the garbage.
Kind of makes you wonder what they are hiding. Like you and thousands of Ontarians, the first things that come to mind are items like the Greenbelt Scandal and the Ontario Place/Science Centre/Therme Spa combo. Closer to home, sometimes we wonder about cell phone calls between developers and certain high-powered government offices.
Premier Ford was under a January court order to “release logs of government-related calls made on his cellphone to comply with a Freedom of Information Request filed by Global News and supported by the Information and Privacy Commissioner.” The premier balked at the idea of releasing the records. His reason being constituent confidentiality. I’m all for constituent confidentiality and as anyone who deals with me knows, constituent confidentiality is one of my commandments carved in stone. But FOI requests have all personal information already removed before dispatch. Anyway, now Premier Ford is liberated from handing them over. While our liberty is diminished.
In contrast, I’ll point out that an elected municipal official locally had to hand over their personal cell phone to an Integrity Commissioner…personal cell phone. I’ll just leave that here. I’ve heard from plenty of you in Haldimand-Norfolk who aren’t happy with the changes. But I thought I’d look around the province to get a feel for the mood–especially in PC-held ridings. Naturally, the government has pushed back against the critics.
Catching my eye was William Konken’s article in BayToday.ca entitled “Concerns raised locally after Ontario passes FOI amendments in Bill 97.”
“North Bay resident Nicole Peltier, who has been active in filing freedom-of-information requests at both the municipal and provincial levels, says the changes remove a key safeguard for the public.” Ms. Peltier shared her concerns with MPP Vic Fedeli’s office who said Ontario is “aligning with approaches used across Canada that protect Cabinet confidentiality clearly and upfront, while maintaining full access to records held by the public service.” Their response emphasized, “oversight remains in place and that government decisions, spending, and operations continue to be subject to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.”
The last bit doesn’t quite give me much comfort. Between this and the overall centralization of the education system, not much comfort at all in believing our democratic voices are being heard.