Ontario to bypass public hearings on FOI overhaul that will hide premier’s phone logs | Globalnews.ca
[ad_1] The Ford government will fast-track its controversial changes to freedom of information laws, bypassing public hearings over its plan to shield the premier, his cabinet and their staff from scrutiny. Weeks after tabling the budget, with only five bills introduced since MPPs returned from their extended winter break, the government has decided to speed […]
Ontario FOI changes will make it ‘less transparent than even the federal government’ | Globalnews.ca
[ad_1] Ontario’s transparency watchdog is renewing her calls for the Ford government to scrap its controversial freedom of information crackdown, saying the changes will make the province “less transparent than even the federal government.” Shortly after a court concluded Premier Doug Ford was using his personal phone to conduct government business and ruled some of […]
Majority oppose Ontario’s freedom of information clampdown, new poll finds | Globalnews.ca
[ad_1] A majority of Ontarians oppose the Ford government’s freedom of information crackdown, according to a new poll, as the province prepares to shield political leaders and their staff from scrutiny. Research conducted by Abacus Data on behalf of the Canadian Union of Public Employees found just 24 per cent of those asked support the […]
Ford accuses FOI watchdog of ‘politicizing’ transparency clamp-down | Globalnews.ca
[ad_1] Ontario Premier Doug Ford is accusing the province’s transparency watchdog of “politicizing” his government’s crackdown on freedom of information laws, claiming he has “nothing to hide” but that he doesn’t want to risk publishing personal records. The government is facing major pushback, including from the Information and Privacy Commissioner, over its plan to give […]
Doug Ford’s cellphone records under spotlight ahead of transparency law changes | Globalnews.ca
[ad_1] The question of who Ontario Premier Doug Ford calls, and why he is changing the law to shield his phone records from scrutiny, was front and centre as the government returned to Queen’s Park Monday. Shortly before returning from an extended, 14-week winter break, the Progressive Conservatives announced they would retroactively change transparency laws […]
Watchdog says transparency crackdown will make Ontario more secret and less secure | Globalnews.ca
[ad_1] Ontario’s transparency watchdog is pouring cold water on some of the Ford government’s central justifications for clamping down on freedom of information, saying the changes will actually make the province more secretive and less secure. The province recently announced it would rewrite its access to information laws to retroactively exclude all records belonging to […]
Critics say Ford is ‘flooding the zone’ to distract from transparency controversy | Globalnews.ca
[ad_1] Critics in Ontario say a flurry of government announcements on justice, alcohol and roads is designed to distract from sweeping changes the Progressive Conservatives are planning to apply to the province’s transparency laws. On Friday morning, Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement Stephen Crawford announced the government would clamp down on […]
Ford government silent on cost of fighting release of premier’s cellphone records | Globalnews.ca
[ad_1] The Ford government appears to be silent on how much its years-long battle to protect the premier’s cellphone records from release has cost the taxpayer, as it moves to change the law and potentially nullify its latest legal defeat. Since 2022, provincial lawyers have worked untold hours to block Global News’ attempts to access […]
Ford accused of limiting transparency law because of cellphone defeat in court | Globalnews.ca
[ad_1] Facing the prospect of a general strike in 2022 over his government’s use of the notwithstanding clause to legislate education support staff back to work, Ontario Premier Doug Ford blinked. At a hastily scheduled news conference, he said he would rescind the law, explaining he’d been “on the phone all night” returning calls about […]
Taxpayer advocacy group calls on Ontario to reverse transparency changes | Globalnews.ca
[ad_1] A Canadian taxpayer advocacy group is calling on the Ford government to “immediately backtrack” on controversial changes to transparency legislation it announced just before the weekend. On Friday morning, Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement Stephen Crawford unveiled plans to shield the premier, his cabinet ministers and their staff from freedom […]