Canada’s top court will hear Ontario’s appeal to block the release of mandate letters sent by the premier to his cabinet ministers nearly four years ago, although Doug Ford insisted Thursday that the content of the notes was not a secret.
The CBC sought the 23 letters Ford wrote to his cabinet ministers shortly after his Progressive Conservatives won the 2018 election. A journalist filed a request that year for the documents under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
“It’s not secret,” Ford said Thursday at a campaign stop in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., shortly after the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision and two weeks ahead of the provincial election.
“Everyone knows where we stand. I’m out here every single day moving forward. It’s going to be very, very clear what we’re doing. We’re going to continue to build roads, highways, bridges, and hospitals and schools.”
He said “it’s going to be as clear and transparent as you can get.”
Yet Ontario’s Attorney General sought to keep the letters private from the outset.
The four-year legal odyssey began with a freedom-of-information request for the letters by CBC’s Nicole Brockbank.
The cabinet office refused CBC’s request, arguing they should be excluded under the freedom of information act because releasing them would “reveal the substance of deliberations” of cabinet.
That prompted the broadcaster to appeal to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. Mediation did not solve the issue, court documents show.
Then-privacy commissioner, Brian Beamish, ordered the letters to be disclosed to CBC.
Ontario’s attorney general responded by seeking a judicial review in divisional court, which dismissed the application. The province then appealed the ruling to the Court of Appeal for Ontario.
In January, the province’s highest court dismissed Ontario’s appeal, which prompted the province to appeal again to the country’s highest court.
As usual, the Supreme Court gave no reasons Thursday for deciding to hear the appeal.
CBC said Thursday it has been successful at each stage of the court process and “remain convinced the mandate letters should be made public for the purposes of public transparency and accountability.”
“We see today’s decision as a positive step given Canada’s highest court is looking further into a matter CBC News believes is of strong public interest,” CBC spokesman Chuck Thompson said in an email.
Patricia Kosseim, Ontario’s information and privacy commissioner, who is part of the case against the province, said it’s an “important case about the public’s right to access government information.”
“A judgment by the Supreme Court could set a significant precedent for deciding future cases involving access to key records such as mandate letters that can help the public understand the plans and approaches of governments,” Kosseim said in a statement.
In July 2019, the former privacy commissioner concluded the letters did not fall within the parameters of exclusion.
“The mandate letters are directives from the Premier to each of his ministers,” Beamish wrote. “They contain general statements about the government’s overall priorities and provide guidance to each minister as to each ministry’s priorities and his or her own role.”
The privacy commissioner found no evidence the letters were ever tabled at a cabinet meeting or part of cabinet deliberations, and therefore could be made public.
The divisional court found the privacy commissioner’s conclusions to be reasonable, saying the burden of proof lay with the province to demonstrate the letters should be excluded under the exemption. The judge ruled the province didn’t meet the burden of proof.
The Court of Appeal upheld the lower court’s ruling in a 2-1 decision, saying it did not make an error in law.
“The letters do not threaten to divulge cabinet’s deliberative process or its formulation of policies,” Justice Lorne Sossin wrote.
Ontario’s New Democrats called for the immediate release of the letters on Thursday in a statement.
“Doug Ford’s Conservative mandate letters should have been released publicly four years ago,” said the party that held official Opposition status before the legislature dissolved for the current election campaign.
Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said Ford and his Progressive Conservatives are scared to release the letters.
“It is unconscionable and appalling that they don’t have the confidence in their own plan to just level with the people of Ontario about their hidden agenda, the agenda that are trying desperately to keep hidden, to privatize to cut and to deliver more chaos,” he said at campaign stop in Mississauga, Ont, on Thursday.
Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner also called on Ford to release the letters.
“Why is Doug Ford afraid of being transparent and straightforward with the people of Ontario?” Schreiner said in a statement. “What are they hiding?”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2022.
–with files from Nicole Thompson in Mississauga, Ont., and Jessica Smith in Niagara-on-the-Lake
Liam Casey, The Canadian Press
PORT ALBERNI, B.C. – RCMP say the body of a second person has been found inside their vehicle after a road washed away amid pouring rain on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Police say two vehicles went into the Sarita River when Bamfield Road washed out on Saturday as an atmospheric river hammered southern B.C.
The body of the other driver was found Sunday.
More coming.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
The B.C. Greens say Sonia Furstenau will be staying on as party leader, despite losing her seat in the legislature in Saturday’s provincial election.
The party says in a statement that its two newly elected MLAs, Jeremy Valeriote and Rob Botterell, support Furstenau’s leadership as they “navigate the prospect of having the balance of power in the legislature.”
Neither the NDP led by Premier David Eby nor the B.C. Conservatives led by John Rustad secured a majority in the election, with two recounts set to take place from Oct. 26 to 28.
Eby says in a news conference that while the election outcome is uncertain, it’s “very likely” that the NDP would need the support of others to pass legislation.
He says he reached out to Furstenau on election night to congratulate her on the Greens’ showing.
But he says the Green party has told the NDP they are “not ready yet” for a conversation about a minority government deal.
The Conservatives went from taking less than two per cent of the vote in 2020 to being elected or leading in 45 ridings, two short of a majority and only one behind the NDP.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Toronto FC captain Jonathan Osorio is making a difference, 4,175 kilometres away from home.
The 32-year-old Canadian international midfielder, whose parents hail from Colombia, has been working with the Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization, a charity whose goal is to help disadvantaged youth in the South American country.
Osorio has worked behind the scenes, with no fanfare.
Until now, with his benevolence resulting in becoming Toronto FC’s nominee for the Audi Goals Drive Progress Impact Award, which honours an MLS player “who showed outstanding dedication to charitable efforts and serving the community” during the 2024 season.”
Other nominees include Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter and CF Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois.
The winner will be announced in late November.
The Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization (CCCO) is run entirely by volunteers like Monica Figueredo and Claudia Soler. Founded in 1991, it received charitable status in 2005.
The charity currently has four projects on the go: two in Medellin and one each in Armenia and Barranquilla.
They include a school, a home for young girls whose parents are addicted to drugs, after-school and weekend programs for children in a disadvantaged neighbourhood, and nutrition and education help for underprivileged youth.
The organization heard about Osorio and was put in contact with him via an intermediary, which led to a lunch meeting. Osorio did his due diligence and soon got back to the charity with his decision.
“It was something that I wanted to be a part of right away,” said Osorio, whose lone regret is that he didn’t get involved sooner.
“I’m fortunate now that to help more now that I could have back then,” he added. “The timing actually worked out for everybody. For the last three years I have donated to their cause and we’ve built a couple of (football) fields in different cities over there in the schools.”
His father visited one of the sites in Armenia close to his hometown.
“He said it was amazing, the kids, how grateful they are to be able to play on any pitch, really,” said Osorio. “But to be playing on a new pitch, they’re just so grateful and so humble.
“It really makes it worth it being part of this organization.”
The collaboration has also made Osorio take stock.
“We’re very fortunate here in Canada, I think, for the most part. Kids get to go to school and have a roof over their head and things like that. In Colombia, it’s not really the same case. My father and his family grew up in tough conditions, so giving back is like giving back to my father.”
Osorio’s help has been a godsend to the charity.
“We were so surprised with how willing he was,” said Soler.
The TFC skipper has helped pay for a football field in Armenia as well as an ambitious sports complex under construction in Barranquilla.
“It’s been great for them,” Figueredo said of the pitch in Armenia. “Because when they go to school, now they have a proper place to train.”
Osorio has also sent videos encouraging the kids to stay active — as well as shipping soccer balls and signed jerseys their way.
“They know more about Jonathan than the other players in Colombia,” Figueredo said. “That’s the funny part. Even though he’s far away, they’ve connected with him.”
“They feel that they have a future, that they can do more,” she added. “Seeing that was really, really great.”
The kids also followed Osorio through the 2022 World Cup and this summer’s Copa America.
Back home, Osorio has also attended the charity’s annual golf tournament, helping raise funds.
A Toronto native, he has long donated four tickets for every TFC home game to the Hospital for Sick Children.
Vancouver’s Berhalter was nominated for his involvement in the Whitecaps’ partnership with B.C. Children’s Hospital while Montreal’s Sirois was chosen for his work with the Montreal Impact Foundation.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
A look at Susan Holt, Liberal premier-designate of New Brunswick
Sentencing hearing continues for University of Waterloo gender studies class stabber
Here is the latest on the New Brunswick election
New Brunswick Liberals win majority, Susan Holt first woman to lead province
Toronto FC captain Jonathan Osorio making a difference off the pitch as well as on it
Inequality has broad impacts on the health of Montreal children, report finds
Two dead, one missing in B.C. after mudslide, road washout triggered by heavy rain
Premier-designate of New Brunswick, Susan Holt, is first woman to lead the province
