The Ford government’s changes to freedom of information laws could leave key questions about the purchase of a private jet unanswered, as critics argue the Progressive Conservatives are rewriting legislation to “protect the king.”
The province took possession of a second-hand plane last week, but was forced into a reversal by Sunday morning due to sustained public backlash.
But who suggested the idea of purchasing a private jet to the premier, or what arguments were made in favour, is unclear. When Ford signed off on the plan, and who he met to discuss it with is also a mystery.
Many of the questions about which of Ford’s political advisers were in favour of spending almost $30 million on the private jet — and which cabinet ministers the premier polled for advice — will never be answered.
That’s because changes to freedom of information laws, which the government is rushing through the legislature, will seal political communications from the premier, his cabinet and all of their staff from scrutiny.
“Things like this are going to be harder and harder for the people of Ontario and journalists to get to the bottom of with the changes that the premier’s making to the freedom of information laws,” Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said on Monday.
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“It’s going to be harder and harder to get to the bottom of this.”
The controversial freedom of information changes were announced before politicians returned to Queen’s Park and have been justified by the government as necessary to update a 40-year-old piece of legislation.
Some information will still be available, but key portions will not. In the case of the jet purchase, under the new rules, communications from the civil service will still be accessible, along with reports and research done leading up to the purchase.
But the communications between politicians — who ultimately made the decision to buy the jet — and their staff won’t be accessible to the public.
“The freedom of information changes are wrong. They protect the public. It keeps the public informed,” Ontario Liberal interim leader John Fraser said.
“So that we find out about, like, maybe some of the details with the private jet that we don’t know about yet.”
Stephen Crawford, the minister for public and business service delivery and procurement, previously acknowledged part of the reason for his FOI changes was so he and his colleagues could have “candid” discussions “without any potential blowback.”
Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said Ford had “so many things to hide” through legal changes.
“The $8.3 billion Greenbelt scandal, the skills development fund scandal and now the plane gate scandal,” he said. “The premier clearly doesn’t want to be open, honest and transparent with the people of Ontario.”
Speaking during question period on Monday, Crawford defended the sweeping transparency clampdown.
“It’s been over 40 years since this legislation has been updated, and 40 years ago, there was no cloud computing, there was no artificial intelligence, there were no cyber attacks,” he said.
“What we are doing, Speaker, is focusing on modernizing the privacy and access to information act for the people of Ontario.”
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