Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks at a conference in Calgary on Sept. 28.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Less is more is a fine approach to interior design. But it’s a terrible way for government to approach public disclosure. Unfortunately, it’s the ethos adopted by Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
Evidence is piling up that the three-term government is increasingly allergic to transparency. This is self-serving behaviour from politicians with no shortage of scandals, making it harder for the media and public to hold them to account.
Especially now, with the province facing major threats, Mr. Ford needs to remember that the public is his boss. They have a right to know what he is doing.
In a few ways, though, the premier has made it harder for the people to keep tabs on him.
One example is the no-press press conference. One of these happened last month.
On that day, Mr. Ford livestreamed a housing announcement on YouTube. Although this looked on its face like a press conference it was lacking one crucial element: journalists. In fact, the media didn’t find out about the event until Mr. Ford’s social media account posted that it had happened.
Editorial: Doug’s transparent cloak of self-serving secrecy
The lack of reporters suited Mr. Ford just fine. He quipped, as the pseudo-event wrapped up, “Thank God we don’t have the media. No questions, no answers. We’re good to go.”
This is insulting both to the men and women at Queen’s Park whose job it is to cover provincial politics and also to the people of Ontario. Putting out a message without having to answer questions about the policy being announced – or whatever else is on the public mind – is ducking responsibility.
Unfortunately, this is not a new impulse for the Ford government. In its first term, there was actually a pseudo-newscaster creating videos to post online. What was called Ontario News Now began during the 2018 election campaign and then continued as the party formed government. According to a Canadian Press analysis, Mr. Ford appeared at least 100 times on the fake news operation in his first year as premier.
This led to some grating moments for the actual reporters whose job it was to cover Mr. Ford. It was not uncommon for him to take a few questions and then his staff would announce he had no more time, only for him to give generously of his calendar to the Ontario News Now pseudo-newscaster, which was also at the scene.
The façade of journalism is not the only trick the Ford government has used to manage its message. Earlier this year Mr. Ford clamped down on freedom of information access.
Such legislation is designed to allow the media or any member of the public to request internal documents. These often contain information that can be embarrassing to government. One way to avoid that is to keep everything above-board. Another way – Mr. Ford’s choice – is to change the law to exempt himself, his cabinet and their political staff.
He also made the rules retroactive, killing any access to information request that was in process at the time of the legislative change.
This was such a sweeping clampdown on information that bureaucrats were initially unsure about just what to do. And then, according to recent reporting by Global News, came the edict: stop all freedom of information work. This directive, which was conveyed only by Microsoft Teams, in spite of some bureaucrats asking for email confirmation, lasted more than a week.
Although parts of the freedom of information system then resumed, the change in legislation has thrown a blanket of secrecy over the inner workings of the Ford government.
At the same time, the Ford government has extended the legislature’s “summer” break until the last week of this month. The legislature will not sit for 21 weeks, after a 14-week winter break.
This leaves the government untroubled by Opposition or reporter questions at Queen’s Park for months on end. The protracted current break is ostensibly to avoid sitting during municipal elections, a risible defence given how Mr. Ford has meddled in city affairs – including cutting Toronto’s council in half in the middle of an election campaign.
Mr. Ford may find it convenient to keep the public in the dark. But he seems to have learned the wrong lesson when he bragged about saving the taxpayer money as a Toronto city councillor. Less may be more when it comes to office expenses. It doesn’t work with political transparency.