Ontario cabinet blocks dozens of FOI requests after new secrecy law takes effect
Ontario’s cabinet office denied 48 freedom-of-information requests between late April and mid-June, invoking a recently passed law that shields premier-level records from public view.
A new provincial statute enacted in April allows Ontario’s premier and cabinet to withhold their internal records, and the cabinet office has already used it to refuse 48 freedom-of-information applications between April 27 and June 19. The denied requests, obtained by the Investigative Journalism Bureau, sought information on the Ontario Place mega-spa proposal, the Highway 413 corridor, and phone calls to Premier Doug Ford about a pressured private-jet return, among other issues.
Some applications were recent, while others dated back to 2023, and the law’s 30-day response deadline was ignored. The premier’s office did not respond to inquiries. Experts such as Dean Beeby and Anaïs Bussières McNicoll said the move threatens public accountability and could signal a broader national trend toward FOI restrictions. The IJB, part of the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health and supported by Postmedia, highlighted the growing opacity in Ontario’s government.
Why it matters
It shows how new legislation can limit public insight into government decisions, affecting accountability.
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