The highest court in the land has agreed to hear the Ford government’s appeal, challenging the Ontario Court of Appeals ’recent decision on ministers’ mandate letters. The province is trying to keep these documents secret, which the CBC has wanted since 2018.
This is the first time in Canada that courts have considered the question relating to the obligation to make public order letters of the government.
The Supreme Court decision on Thursday morning ensures that these letters will remain confidential until the highest court in the land renders its verdict.
No date has yet been set for the county’s appeal to be heard and there is no way it can be done before the June 2 general election in Ontario.
Mandate letters are letters in which the provincial premier describes his expectations to each of his ministers when they take office.
They are usually made public by governments across the country. The CBC has been trying since the summer of 2018 to obtain copies of the 23 letters in question under the Access to Information Act.
The Ontario Court of Appeal ruled in January that Premier Doug Ford had an obligation to release the mandate letters of his 23 cabinet ministers.
In a split two-to-one judgment, the county’s highest court upheld the lower court’s decision against the Conservatives.
Judge Lorne Sossin of the Court of Appeal wrote on this subject represented by these letters the culmination of the deliberative process.
While emphasizing the decisions made by the Prime Minister ultimately, these documents do not clarify the process used in making those decisions or the alternatives thrown in the way.reading the decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal.
Accordingly, they do not threaten to disclose the cabinet deliberation process or the formulation of cabinet policies.conclusion by Judge Sossin.
Ontario’s Information Commissioner unsuccessfully ordered the government to release such documents in 2019, leading to a legal challenge in the Divisional Court and then in the Court of Appeal.
In his application to the Supreme Court, the Attorney General of the province explained that it is important to keep secret the work of the cabinet consisting of 23 ministers.
In court documents, the county says Ontario courts erred in law in interpreting the commissioner’s decision.
Attorney General Doug Downey also argues that such documents should not be subject to the Access to Information Act, as they reflect confidential cabinet deliberations and have exemptions to the Act. to access information.
At its request, the Ford government mentioned it, explaining that [son] The appeal will be the first time for this Honorable Court to address the scope of an exemption relating to cabinet documents in a provincial access to information law..
Another decision is expected
The Supreme Court of Canada, on the other hand, has refused to listen to another dispute in which Doug Ford is involved. This is the appeal request from former Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Deputy Commissioner Brad Blair.
By refusing, Mr. Blair has exhausted all his legal remedies in the fight he has waged for six years against the Prime Minister.
Mr Blair lost his appeal last fall in the Taverner case. He is appealing the judgment of a lower court, which in 2021 dismissed his $ 5million lawsuit against Mr. Ford because of the scandals.
He said the sitting premier tarnished his reputation in 2018 when he said he violated Ontario’s Police Services Act by disclosing confidential information about the provincial police appointment process. .
Mr. Ford made such comments after Mr. Ford failed to go to court. Blair to force the Ontario Ombudsman to investigate the appointment of Ron Taverner as head of POP.
In the controversy, Ron Taverner, a close friend of Doug Ford, finally refused the position of commissioner of POP and former Deputy Commissioner Blair was fired by the Conservative government on entering 2018-19.
Source: Radio-Canada