Advocacy groups like Environment Hamilton rely heavily on information obtained through the Freedom of Information (FOI) process. However, new rules from the province will greatly limit how the public can request important documents, according to the group’s executive director.
“We’ve spent months and years informing the public about issues that we only learned because someone submitted an FOI,” Ian Borsuk told CBC Hamilton, mentioning Dofasco’s emissions abatement plan, which Eco Justice discovered via an FOI, and details about changes being made to the Greenbelt as key examples.
“FOIs have been crucial in uncovering who the government has been meeting with,” Borsuk added. He believes his organization’s advocacy work regarding environmental issues would become more challenging without access to government plans.
“We’ll just have to wait for policy announcements and may never know why certain legislation was created,” he explained.
Environment Hamilton joins other advocacy organizations, journalists, and researchers across Ontario in expressing concern over new rules passed Thursday that eliminate the public’s ability to request documents from government ministers through FOI.
“I’m not trying to be dramatic, but there’s really no motivation for the government not to act corruptly if they can operate without any risk of public scrutiny,” he said. He pointed out that FOIs have revealed which lobbyists have met with government officials, meaning these changes will reduce transparency about who influences policy decisions.
“It’s extremely concerning, and it means that a small organization like Environment Hamilton is left even more in the dark regarding how we can inform the public about what actions the government is taking,” he noted.
Bill passed amid chants of ‘FOI’ from opposition
The Ford government’s omnibus budget bill along with modifications to freedom of information laws cleared its final vote at Queen’s Park on Thursday. Amidst shouts of “FOI” from opposition members, it passed with 57 votes in favor and 33 against.
Typically, bills go through committees where affected groups and citizens can provide input while committee members propose amendments for debate.
However, Bill 97 bypassed committee sessions and was instead debated during a heated question period on Thursday along with discussions in a rare late-night session Wednesday.
Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement Stephen Crawford stated that this update will “modernize” Ontario’s FOI laws.
The changes will retroactively prevent the public, researchers, and journalists from accessing records held by the premier, cabinet ministers, parliamentary assistants, and their offices. However, people can still request records maintained by civil servants within government ministries.
‘Members of the public have a right to know’
Criminology student Mackenzie Plumb recently utilized a ministerial FOI to expose significant prison expansion plans that had yet to be announced by provincial officials. She stated that under this new law; it would prevent people from discovering such plans until much later in development stages.“This transition binder containing those jail expansion details would no longer be accessible,” she told CBC Hamilton. “Members of the public deserve transparency regarding how our tax dollars are being used.”
(Submitted by Mackenzie Plumb)Records revealing cabinet discussions or advice given to authorities are already exempt under current regulations. The province is also extending response times for freedom-of-information requests from thirty calendar days to forty-five business days-around sixty-three days total.
Crawford claims his administration is “one of the most transparent governments in Ontario’s history,” pointing out an open data catalog as well as efforts made eight years ago when financial details were following previous Liberal leadership.
In British Columbia though; similar ministerial transition binders-like Plumb accessed via FOI-are made publicly available online.
Plumb’s findings disclosed plans for over six thousand additional jail beds expected by twenty fifty while suggesting potential costs related since one thousand one hundred forty jail beds currently being built may reach four billion dollars.
‘The public wants access’Ramani Nadarajah; counsel representing Canadian Environmental Law Association-which has supported Environment Hamilton previously through FOIs-argues these amendments will obscure critical decisions affecting citizens interests throughout Ontario while hampering accountability measures against governing bodies.”We’re interested not only in information retained within governmental agencies but also insight into higher-level considerations impacting policies.” Nadarajah remarked.![]()
She noted high demand exists at Ministry Of Environment Conservation And Parks concerning incoming requests pertaining governmental transparency matters.“Public interest remains strong; individuals want clarity around environmental conditions here”-she added.
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