Apr 27, 2026 · 43 min · 15 segments
Just over a month ago, the Ford government tabled Bill 97, an omnibus bill with provisions fundamentally restructuring Ontario's access to information system. Information and Privacy Commissioner…
Michael GeistHostNo entities detected.
It was the day the Ford government tabled Bill 97, the Plan to Protect Ontario Act.
Buried in the omnibus legislation were provisions that fundamentally restructure Ontario's access to information system.
The premier, cabinet ministers, parliamentary assistants, and their political staff excluded from the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act on a retroactive basis to 1998, with the effect of nullifying existing requests, information and privacy commissioner orders, and court judgments, including the outstanding order requiring disclosure of Premier Ford's personal cell phone records.
What followed was an unprecedented battle between the premier and the commissioner's office, playing out in press releases and media appearances for weeks.
Then this past week, the Ontario government dispensed with the legislative process altogether.
No hearings, no expert witnesses, no opportunity for amendment, no real justification for the changes.
The most significant rewrite of Ontario's access to information regime in nearly forty years became law in under a month without a single opportunity for the public to provide its view.
It was the day the Ford government tabled Bill 97, the Plan to Protect Ontario Act.
Buried in the omnibus legislation were provisions that fundamentally restructure Ontario's access to information system.
The premier, cabinet ministers, parliamentary assistants, and their political staff excluded from the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act on a retroactive basis to 1998, with the effect of nullifying existing requests, information and privacy commissioner orders, and court judgments, including the outstanding order requiring disclosure of Premier Ford's personal cell phone records.
What followed was an unprecedented battle between the premier and the commissioner's office, playing out in press releases and media appearances for weeks.
Then this past week, the Ontario government dispensed with the legislative process altogether.
No hearings, no expert witnesses, no opportunity for amendment, no real justification for the changes.
The most significant rewrite of Ontario's access to information regime in nearly forty years became law in under a month without a single opportunity for the public to provide its view.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.