Doug Ford governing by backroom deal

Three regulations set to be implemented this month quietly postponed

TORONTO – Doug Ford appears to be governing from backrooms, making changes to laws in secret, without disclosing who asked for those changes, or who he consulted with. Three separate regulations scheduled to come into effect over the long weekend were quietly postponed indefinitely, with no public notice.

“No one voted for business to be conducted in secret, behind closed doors,” said Horwath. “And I’m sure no one voted to have a premier that would listen to influencers and lobbyists while shutting out everyday people affected by the laws. Ford seems to believe the public doesn’t deserve information about what he’s up to and why, and that’s wrong.”

The three laws indefinitely postponed include:

• A regulation of the Smoke Free Ontario Act that was to come into force July 1, which addressed things like vaping in day cares
• The Safer Ontario Act, which was also supposed to come into force over the long weekend
• The regulation that would have capped the price scalpers and their scalper-bots can charge for event tickets, putting a 50-per cent-higher limit on ticket resellers – a regulation that was also to come into force on July 1.

“Mr. Ford is already moving our province backward with the cancellation of cap and trade, the downgrading of vital ministries and the roll-back of universal drug coverage for children. Now, to make matters worse – he’s making decisions in secret, without explanation. People deserve to know who has had Mr. Ford’s ear on these issues.”