Ford government going to court to prevent release of documents around blue licence plates

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government is going to court to try to prevent the release of documents about its ill-fated blue licence plates.

Lawyers for the government have applied for a judicial review of decisions by Ontario’s information and privacy commissioner ordering the province to release documents in response to a freedom-of-information request by The Canadian Press.

Critics say that when combined with recent, controversial changes the Ford government has made to freedom-of-information laws, it shows a troubling trend against transparency.

The blue plates rolled out in early 2020 but soon after the government stopped issuing them because of visibility issues.

But the government for years would not say what their plan was for getting the already-issued plates off the roads, so The Canadian Press filed an F-O-I request.

The government denied it and withheld the records, but the information and privacy commissioner ordered the government to release them — a decision the province is now asking the courts to overturn.

Photo By: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Chris Young