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The questions sought responses to evidence gathered by reporters that showed many Ontarians unnecessarily lose their licences as part of a program meant to keep our roads safe.

These licence suspensions occur automatically when doctors and other health professionals report patients with certain health conditions to the Transportation Ministry using medical condition reports (MCRs). They are required to do so under provincial law.

MCRs take tens of thousands of drivers off the road each year. In many cases, they can help make our roads safer. But experts have criticized Ontario鈥檚 system as sweeping and harsh, and say it punishes people for seeking help.

Ontario MCR program ensnared safe drivers

In June 2022, the Star/IJB published the first stories of an investigative series showing that drivers whose licences are unnecessarily suspended have their livelihoods threatened, experience psychological distress, and lose trust in the health-care system. In some cases reviewed by the Star/IJB, the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) could not even prove the drivers ever had the medical conditions upon which their suspensions were based.

Reporters sent questions for those first articles to the MTO in mid-February 2022. In response, ministry staff prepared a thorough set of answers spanning about a dozen pages and numbering more than 2,000 words.

The answers reveal that Ontarians had their licences suspended more than 280,000 times for medical reasons between 2011 and 2020. But the information was withheld from reporters.

鈥淭he (transportation minister鈥檚 office) has revised direction and requested that we send a single statement in response to all the reporter鈥檚 35 questions,鈥� reads an internal email dated March 9, 2022, sent by a ministry official.

The ministry ended up providing a boilerplate statement of fewer than 300 words that ignored the vast majority of questions.

Minister Mulroney鈥檚 press secretary Dakota Brasier declined to comment on the decision to withhold release of the answers. She said the ministry provided 鈥渕ultiple statements to the reporter for questions within its purview鈥� during the course of the Star/IJB鈥檚 ongoing MCR investigation.

Requests for an interview with Mulroney and ministry officials date back more than a year. Neither have ever granted on-the-record interviews.

Government鈥檚 鈥榗loak of secrecy鈥� denounced

This is not the first time the transportation minister鈥檚 office has intervened to limit communications on issues relating to transportation. The office recently directed officials at Metrolinx, a Crown transit agency, to not include two New Democrat MPPs on a notice that was sent to federal and municipal politicians about upcoming tree removals in their constituencies, the Star previously reported. In that case, an MTO staffer also said the premier鈥檚 office wanted the removal of information about the number of trees to be taken down.

The government鈥檚 鈥渃loak of secrecy鈥� surrounding information about MCRs is 鈥渆gregious,鈥� said Kristyn Wong-Tam, one of the MPPs left off the Metrolinx notice about tree removals sent in early January.

The decision to 鈥渂lock the public service 鈥� from doing their job and answering basic media questions is uncalled for and it鈥檚 absolutely unacceptable,鈥� Wong-Tam said.

鈥淥bviously, public safety and road safety 鈥� are something that each and every single one of us would be interested in.鈥�

Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, agrees: 鈥淭he refusal by staff of Minister Mulroney to disclose key information about problems with this government program is dangerous, undemocratic secrecy that not only denies the public鈥檚 right to see the information, but also covers up wrongdoing and abuse, and prevents the problems from being solved.鈥�

Comments from premier鈥檚 office redacted

Last March, after a Star reporter sent the MTO an email questioning the superficial response, Brasier consulted with the premier鈥檚 office, the new documents show.

Brasier forwarded the reporter鈥檚 email to Alexandra Adamo, then the press secretary of the premier鈥檚 office, and Ivana Yelich, then executive director of media relations.

Adamo鈥檚 response to Brasier鈥檚 email is fully redacted in the communications released to reporters. This is because Adamo鈥檚 comments constituted 鈥渁dvice or recommendations鈥� of a government staffer, which do not need to be disclosed under Ontario鈥檚 freedom of information laws.

Brasier again forwarded requests for comment for a subsequent story in the investigative series to the premier鈥檚 office in June 2022. Adamo鈥檚 replies are again entirely redacted on the grounds they contained advice or recommendations.

The MTO did not acknowledge those requests for comment.

Neither the premier鈥檚 office nor Adamo nor Yelich replied to repeated requests for comment for this story.

鈥淭he excessive secrecy about this government program is yet another example of why Ontario鈥檚 freedom of information law needs to be strengthened,鈥� said Democracy Watch鈥檚 Conacher.

Calls to reform release of public records

The reforms, Conacher said, should legislate the routine release of information about whether government programs are 鈥渁ctually working or causing problems and abuses that harm people or communities,鈥� and should impose penalties for 鈥済overnment officials who try to hide this information.鈥�

As the reporters were asking for interviews, a ministry official explained in a March 2022 internal email exchange that 鈥渦nfortunately, we do not have anyone trained to be interviewed by the media.鈥�

At least two employees copied on that email had previous experience as communications and media advisers with the government, according to a review of LinkedIn profiles. One of them was the then manager of policy and programs at the road safety division, whose experience in senior communications roles with several provincial ministries spans over five years. In November 2020, one senior bureaucrat copied on the email discussed the ministry鈥檚 medical review program on a podcast produced by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.

Brasier said the ministry鈥檚 subject matter expert who sent the email is not a trained spokesperson.

When reporters sought comment for this story, Brasier arranged a 30-minute call between reporters and MTO staff late last month on the condition that reporters could not quote the officials.

The MTO鈥檚 pattern of secretive behaviour warrants Mulroney鈥檚 resignation, Wong-Tam said.

鈥淭he Transportation Ministry is 鈥� under pressure from local communities who are demanding better: more transparency, more communication, more accountability,鈥� Wong-Tam said.

Roadblocks to accessing MCR records

The difficulty of obtaining information about MCRs from the ministry dates back years.

In 2018, the MTO responded to a freedom of information request for MCR data with a fee of $59,410. A separate request to the Ministry of Health for similar records was successful.

In December 2021, reporters filed a new request to the MTO for data on MCRs. But the ministry invoked a legislative provision that allows it to deny requests that would 鈥渦nreasonably interfere鈥� with the institution鈥檚 operations.

After the Star/IJB investigation, New Democrat MPP Michael Mantha announced that he would introduce a private member鈥檚 bill to reform Ontario鈥檚 road safety program. Mantha has said he is looking to British Columbia legislation that requires health professionals only to report drivers who they believe are unsafe and ignore a warning to stop driving.

The Investigative Journalism Bureau is a non-profit newsroom based at the University of 91原创鈥檚 Dalla Lana School of Public Health.