The last day of voting in the Ontario provincial election is on Thursday, February 27, 2025.
We sent questions to the political parties who had sitting members in the previous legislature and were running candidates in the current election on Monday February 10th. Individual candidates will receive these on Wednesday, February 19th. The response deadline is Monday February 24th.
Follow the link to encourage them to respond or check back to see what they sent back.
If elected to form government, will you reform laws and improve:
records management in public bodies?
access to information from public bodies?
the ability for people to control and protect their personal information collected used and retained by public bodies and private organizations?
Question 2 – Law reform in action
How will you act on reforms in these areas?
Question 3 – Recordkeeping of information assets
Records need to be both created and managed effectively. Recordkeeping promotes effective public governance and establishes a common source of reference for public employees, it is a prerequisite to both evidence-based and data-driven decision-making.
If elected to form Government, what steps will you take to:
Identify government’s needs related to recordkeeping and areas for potential improvement?
Improve the requirement for public bodies to create and act on records?
Increase proactive release of information under the control of public bodies?
Improve responses to requests for information under the control of public bodies?
Question 4 – Public Body Compliance
Public bodies in Ontario have legal responsibilities for records management, freedom of information, and privacy protection. What steps will your government take to ensure that government ministries and agencies comply with these responsibilities?
Why it matters:
Safeguarding these legal responsibilities helps maintain transparency, accountability, and public trust in government.
Question 5 – Addressing Interference in FOI Requests
In October of last year, The Trillium reported on the Ontario government’s practice of labeling certain Freedom of Information (FOI) requests as “contentious.” If elected to form government, what specific safeguards will you put in place to ensure impartial and consistent decisions on FOI requests, particularly those deemed politically sensitive or potentially embarrassing? How will your party guarantee that all requesters receive fair treatment regardless of the perceived sensitivity of their requests?
Why it matters:
Labeling requests as “contentious” can undermine transparency and fairness, making it more difficult for citizens to trust that government decisions on disclosure are impartial.
Public bodies and private corporations that collect the personal information of Ontarians often transfer this information to entities outside Canada or store it on servers that are outside Canada. Given the current geopolitical context, will you take steps to protect the personal information of Ontarians from potential harm associated with foreign governments and corporations managing this data under foreign laws?
Why it matters:
In an era of heightened global tensions, storing Ontarians’ personal information on servers located outside Canada can subject that data to foreign laws and surveillance regimes.
Question 7 – Regulating AI and Algorithmic Decision-Making in Government
Experts and advocates have called for greater transparency in how government uses AI and algorithms to make decisions. What specific legislative or policy steps will your party take to ensure fairness, accountability, and explainability in automated decision-making used by public agencies?
Why it matters:
AI-driven decisions can affect everything from social benefits to justice system outcomes.
Joint statement by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario and the Ontario Human Rights Commission on the use of AI technologies
Question 8 – Independent Oversight and Accountability
Recent actions in other jurisdictions have reduced the power of independent Commissioners appointed by the legislative assembly to provide meaningful oversight of access to information and privacy. The public broadly expects public bodies to act on the laws that are passed and recommendations that they receive from independent oversight bodies like the Ombudsperson, Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, Representative for Children and Youth, and Auditor General.
How will you ensure that robust, independent oversight mechanisms are in place to monitor and enforce compliance with recordkeeping, access to information, and privacy legislation?
What safeguards will you implement to protect the independence of these oversight bodies?
If elected, what steps will you take to ensure Government and Ministers act on the recommendations of duly appointed independent offices of the legislative assembly?
Why it matters:
Ensuring that oversight bodies remain truly independent from government influence is essential to preserving public trust in access to information and privacy
Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner calls for changes to new proposed public sector access and privacy legislation for Alberta
Check out each linked page to see the questions and responses we received in 2025 from Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavut, Yukon as well as the Federal Election.
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