Freedom of information requests have helped Ontarians hold their government accountable. We explain how with past instances, including our own experience.

Folks: the Ontario government is gaslighting us. In a desperate attempt to hide how he and his ministers make decisions — and who they listen to — Premier Doug Ford wants to change the province’s Freedom of Information and Privacy Protection Act (FIPPA) to block public access to government information held by himself, cabinet members, elected officials and political staff members. You and I know government transparency is crucial to our democratic rights, but the premier is hoping we’ll forget.

A history of using FIPPA to hold Ontario accountable

In September 2022 I submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the Ontario government. I wanted to access a report submitted to the Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks by the province’s Protected Areas Working Group (PAWG) with recommendations to increase Ontario’s protected area network. The report I was asking to see was paid for with public money.

It took seven months to finally get access. As expected, the report contained recommendations in line with the Wilderness Committee’s advocacy work, including adopting a 30x30 target and implementing a transparent strategy to grow protected places, with timelines and funding. It advised the province to adopt the federal target of 30 per cent of lands protected by 2030, consult with First Nations who have made conservation proposals, and work with the public and conservation organizations to implement a transparent strategy to grow protected places, with timelines and funding.

I posted the report on our website and shared it with other organizations working in the sector. Over 100 of us sent a letter requesting to meet with the Minister to discuss the recommendations. That request was never granted, and three years later the PAWG report has never been made public — or even mentioned — by the minister, and almost none of the recommendations have been moved on.

The lesson from my foray into freedom of information is this: the Ford government has no problem ignoring expert advice, even when they commission it themselves. How and why did they decide to dismiss the recommendations? How much money did they waste in funding the report? These are questions my particular request did not answer, and if Ford gets his way in FOI reforms, no one will be able to find out.

Why is Doug Ford going after FIPPA?

Premier Doug Ford has invoked false threats around private information breaches and Chinese spies to justify this move. The Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner has publicly debunked these claims, pointing out that FIPPA laws already protect personal, confidential, and constituency records from disclosure as well as sensitive security information.

The changes to FIPPA laws, which Doug proposes will be retroactive, will block access to his personal cellphone records, which an Ontario court recently deemed should be released after government lawyers admitted he uses his private number to do government business. This is Doug Ford doing what he has always done: looking after Doug Ford.