Social Policy in Ontario

Doug Ford’s push for secrecy is putting the health of Ontarians at risk

Posted on April 13, 2026 in Governance Debates

Source: TheStar.com — Authors: Iris Gorfinkel

TheStar.com – Opinion/Contributors
April 13, 2026.   By Iris Gorfinkel, Contributor

“I feel like a psychologist every day trying to solve everyone’s personal issues,” said Premier Doug Ford last month.

News flash: It wasn’t therapy they were after — it was accountability. They weren’t hoping for analysis; they were seeking policy change. Instead, their requests have been weaponized as a pretext to exempt Ford and his underlings from freedom-of-information (FOI) laws.

Bill 97 would fully exempt the premier from FOI. Unlike other provinces, it also exempts cabinet ministers, parliamentary assistants and their staff. This would make emails, texts and other records in those offices inaccessible to the public and could wipe out ongoing appeals, disclosure orders and even court decisions that involve these records.

Government secrecy causes misery and costs lives. Ontario’s most effective watchdogs outside government — citizens, journalists and researchers — depend on FOI to drag hidden policies into the light. These laws exposed Ford’s behind-the-scenes decisions around hospital funding, staffing and long-term care — decisions independent reviews linked to worsening hallway medicine, nursing shortages and long-term care deaths.

In 2023, Bill 60 handed control of private clinic licences to a director who is no longer a public servant and therefore not accountable to public scrutiny. Replacing a public official with a hand-picked outsider hides how private facilities are handled. Ontarians are now denied access to how clinics are selected, the number of cases they’re given, their cost and their impact on public wait times — critical metrics that can no longer be assessed or publicly challenged.

Worse, Bill 60 opens the door to government corruption.

As Ford’s government chips away at FOI, the public is less able to measure the impact his policies are having. What’s clear is that “hallway medicine” has never been worse.

Harsh truths galvanize better laws and save lives. Yet Ontarians are being asked to trust a system that can’t be verified. But should they?

The Ford government’s deliberate lack of transparency hit especially hard during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Detailed, home-by-home data on deaths and staffing were released only after sustained pressure from independent advocacy groups.

This lack of transparency left families and front‑line clinicians flying blind. Seniors-focused advocacy groups later explicitly describe filing FOI requests “on various topics related to the provision of long-term care services,” using FOI as a transparency and accountability tool.

After sustained pressure, the province finally released home‑by‑home outbreak and death data, along with inspection findings. Targeted interventions quickly followed — stricter masking, testing and, in some cases, non‑renewal of licences. Lives could be saved once the data were forced into the open.

It’s Ontarians who bear the consequences when governments grant themselves the power to be unaccountable. It’s Ontarians who endure longer ER and surgical wait times. It’s Ontarians who are left wondering where their tax dollars have gone — as leaders secretly spend public funds.

Legalizing government secrecy turns premiers into kings. It’s a slippery slope that undermines the ability of communities, the media and researchers to monitor safety, equity and value for taxpayer money. Laws should solidify transparency, not erode it.

Here’s what Ontario should be doing: Legislate bans on FOI carve-outs so politicians cannot simply write themselves out of oversight. Provide taxpayers online, searchable access to who owns private clinics that receive public funding, along with how much they’re costing. Ford’s threat to FOI only underscores Ontario’s urgent need for transparency and accountability.

Secrecy breaks the basic social contract — not only of health care, but of democracy itself. How taxpayer dollars are spent should be fully transparent, not a secret legislated by politicians who may have plenty to hide. Elected officials should be open to public scrutiny, not hiding behind personal appointees with no accountability. Transparency limits government corruption and sets the stage for public debate.

Tolerating secrecy undermines safety and equity, leaving the sickest spending nights on gurneys in ER hallways. If suffering is to have meaning, it’s to point a wiser path forward — not to exempt leadership from checks and balances.

P.S. Reaching out to Ontario’s premier for help isn’t a justification for secrecy — it’s a cry for accountability.

Iris Gorfinkel is a family physician and clinical researcher in Toronto.

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/doug-fords-push-for-secrecy-is-putting-the-health-of-ontarians-at-risk/article_07ad6469-c25e-4605-8bb6-a23e5ab1236f.html

Tags: featured, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, rights

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