Wayne Gates
Special to Niagara Now/The Lake Report
In Ontario, we have freedom of information, or FOI, laws for one simple reason: we live in a democracy, and the public has a right to know what its government and elected representatives are doing.
People in Niagara-on-the-Lake pay their taxes, follow the law and participate in our democratic system. They deserve transparency and accountability.
That’s why I’m deeply concerned about the Ford government’s recent move to limit FOI requests.
The changes that the premier is proposing would block access to records from Ford’s office, his ministers and political staff.
Let’s be clear: all those offices are places where decisions are made that affect everyday life in Niagara and in Ontario. Think of the situation we face in health care, or long-term care, or with housing, or the recent fiasco we have been through in Niagara with the threat of forced amalgamation.
Do you think that people in Niagara should have less ability to find out what the government is doing on these files behind closed doors? I certainly don’t.
The timing of these proposed changes should also raise some serious red flags.
Over the past few years, there has been no shortage of controversies at Queen’s Park and in the premier’s office. The textbook example was everything that happened with the Greenbelt.
We know decisions affecting protected Greenbelt lands were made in ways that benefited well-connected developers. Ontarians only learned the full story because journalists and the Official Opposition at Queen’s Park were able to access internal records.
We’ve also seen ongoing questions about Ontario Place and the future of one of Toronto’s most iconic areas. Just like with the Greenbelt, access to government records has been essential in helping the public understand what’s happening behind the scenes.
Then there’s the issue of the premier’s personal cellphone. Courts have ruled that records related to government business on that phone should be subject to access requests.
Now the premier is now trying to change the law to keep his cell records hidden. The question on everyone’s minds should be: what is the premier hiding?
And then there’s the skills development fund. There are serious questions raised about how taxpayer dollars are being spent.
Are they being spent on worthwhile programs that help train workers to be best equipped for the Ontario economy in 2026 and beyond, or are they made up of more handouts to well-connected insiders?
For people here in Niagara-on-the-Lake, this matters more than you might think.
When the government limits access to information, it makes it harder for journalists and the broader community to hold the government accountable. It makes it easier for politicians to avoid answering tough questions.
It’s not just me saying this. Ontario’s information and piracy commissioner even said, “This amendment is about hiding government-related business to evade public accountability.”
At the end of the day, this isn’t about politics. It’s about trust.
Freedom of information laws help protect that trust. Weakening them sends the wrong message — that the government would rather hide information than answer for its decisions.
Ontarians deserve better.
Wayne Gates is the member of provincial parliament for the Niagara Falls riding.
