Ontario PCs pretend to be for open and transparent gov't

See my email exchange with Jim Wilson, interim leader of the Conservative Party. Start at the bottom.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Jim,

I notice you haven't responded to my email. This is the same response I get every time I raise this issue with an MPP. Silence. And that was what I was talking about in my original message.

Not one MPP has the courage to speak out publicly about what the Liberals did when they changed the law to do this. So how can you or any other MPP be really for open and transparent government, when you refuse to speak publicly about this? If the Liberals can hide information on abortion, they can hide information on anything. The slippery slope is endless.

Even though I am a conservative, probably more conservative than you are, I will continue to speak up against your party and your members as long as this silence continues. I realize I am only one voice, but at least my conscience is clear that I did not stay quiet about this deceitful and despicable act by the Liberals, even when the Conservatives did and said nothing.

So I repeat, speak out against the Liberals attack on open and transparent government, and then we can speak.

Thanks
Pat

-------- Forwarded Message --------

Subject:	Re: End of Fall Legislative Session
Date:	Thu, 08 Jan 2015 14:48:33 -0500
From:	Pat Maloney
Reply-To:
To:	Wilson, Jim <jim.wilson@pc.ola.org>

Thanks Jim. I looked through the results but couldn't find anything on the Liberals decision to hide abortion information. Have you spoken out on that because that was what I was referring to?

I've written extensively on that, some of it is at this link:
http://run-with-life.blogspot.ca/2012/08/ontarios-stealth-attack-on-foi-series.html

Pat

On 08/01/2015 1:17 PM, Wilson, Jim wrote:

Hi Pat: If you search the word “accountability” all articles containing the word will come up.  Here is a link to my last article,  http://www.jimwilsonmpp.com/newsroom/press-releases/733-premier-s-pattern-of-behaviour-let-down-ontario-in-fall-legislative-session .

Best Regards,

Jim

--

Jim Wilson, MPP
Simcoe-Grey

Interim Leader of the Official Opposition

Email: jim.wilson@pc.ola.org

Phone: 416-325-2069

From: Pat Maloney
Sent: January-08-15 1:03 PM
To: Wilson, Jim;
Subject: Re: End of Fall Legislative Session

Hi Jim, Can you please send me the actual link on your site where you speak about this? I couldn't find it.
Thanks
Pat

On 08/01/2015 12:36 PM, Wilson, Jim wrote:

Thank you for your email Pat. My PC Party colleagues and I have spoken out a lot about this issue and encourage you to visit my website to view my efforts, www.jimwilsonmpp.com . 

Best Regards,

Jim

--

Jim Wilson, MPP
Simcoe-Grey

Interim Leader of the Official Opposition

Email: jim.wilson@pc.ola.org

Phone: 416-325-2069

From: Pat Maloney
Sent: December-16-14 8:31 AM
To: Wilson, Jim;
Subject: Re: End of Fall Legislative Session

Dear Jim, speak out against the Liberals attack on open and transparent government, and then we can speak.
Thanks
Pat

On 15/12/2014 10:32 AM, Jim Wilson, Interim Ontario PC Leader wrote:

Pat,  

As the Fall Legislative session ended, the Ontario PC Party was tied with the Liberals in the latest polling. The reason for our growing momentum is the outstanding work of our strong leadership candidates and our Caucus. 

Throughout the Fall, our united Ontario PC team continued holding the Liberals to account for their incompetence, lack of accountability, and hollow words. 

Our five-week campaign for a standing committee to address sexual harassment in the work place and protect victims of sexual harassment from further harm overcame Kathleen Wynne’s stubborn resistance when she finally reversed her stance. 

The most scathing Auditor General’s report I have ever seen in my 24 years as an MPP confirmed that the Ontario PCs were right in our opposition to smart meter tax machines and the sneaky Global Adjustment secret tax that is costing each household an extra $1,000 each year on our hydro bills. It also confirmed we were right in pointing out the harm all Ontarians face from increasing debt, interest payments, spending and failure to deliver services. 

During the Fall session, our Ontario PC team held the Liberals to account for shutting down the investigation into the destruction of documents in their billion dollar gas plant scandal; for failing to be open or transparent about mismanagement of the failed MaRS real estate project that will cost taxpayers almost $400 million; and for failing to provide oversight in the Ornge air ambulance scandal. 

A government can only rise to the challenges faced by the people of Ontario if it truly respects them. This can only happen if a government is accountable and transparent. The Ontario PCs will continue to fight for answers and accountability on behalf of the people of Ontario. 

Jim Wilson
Interim Leader

Christine Elliott - does she care about open and transparent government?

Dear Christine,

I might be interested in your op-ed if I thought you really cared about holding Kathleen Wynne responsible for the Liberals attack on Freedom of Information in Ontario.

I've repeatedly asked you what you think about what Kathleen Wynne's government did with open and transparent access to government information.

I've also asked you if you became premier, would you repeal this harmful law that hides all abortion information, and its full frontal attack on democracy.

But all I get from you is--silence.

So no Christine, I didn't read your op-ed.

Thank you.

Patricia Maloney

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pat --

I thought you might be interested in my OpEd running in today’s National Post entitled “Kathleen’s war on jobs.”

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/12/10/christine-elliott-kathleen-wynnes-war-on-jobs

I am holding this Wynne government to account and standing-up against her job killing pension plan.

Sincerely,

Christine Elliott 

Backbone of Conservative values is "do not discuss abortion"

I'm still getting these emails from the Conservatives as they kick up into high gear for an election.

Last week I got this one:

The byelections in Thornhill and Niagara Falls are just over two weeks away.   

Hundreds of volunteers are working with our two all-star candidates, Gila Martow and Bart Maves, to help them get elected. 

They're doing everything they can, but we need your help, too.  Please click here to donate today! 

There are many, many reasons to support Gila and Bart.  Here are five:
    They will be strong advocates for their constituents.
    Bart's 12 years of combined political experience, and Gila's 23 years fundraising and volunteering for children's charities and non-profits.
    They're committed to bringing good, well-paying jobs back to Ontario.
    They're passionate about putting Ontario back on the path to prosperity.
    Because people have had enough of the McGuinty-Wynne Liberals and their NDP supporters. 

Our campaigns run on your contributions.  Every dollar you donate helps us fund another ad, buy an other sign, and purchase more lit to hand out at the door.   

We can't do it without you. 

DONATE TODAY to help us win in Thornhill and Niagara Falls. 

Thank you for your generous support, 

The Ontario PC Party

To which I responded:

Nope. Won't be supporting Gila and Bart. The Ontario Conservatives don't support access to information rights, so why should I support the Conservatives? And...they don't have the courage to say so.

To which MPP Michael Harris's office responded:

I just wanted to follow up on your comments, which are quite concerning. The Ontario Progressive Conservatives are all for accountability and transparency. It’s the backbone of our values. Would you mind giving me your postal code so we can have your MPP call you? 

To which I responded:

Finally someone has responded to me, thank you! 

I must beg to differ however about the Conservatives being for accountability and transparency and I'll tell you why. And I have already met with my MPP Madeleine Meilleur. She seemed completely oblivious to what her government did with the Bill 122, the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act. 

I've also been questioning both the Kathleen Wynne, Deb Matthews, Tim Hudak, and countless other MPPs on what happened in 2010, when the Liberal government excluded abortion services from all Freedom of Information requests, of which I do many. And that was the only medical procedure excluded from the act. Why is that?

And I was not asking for patient's names or doctor's names. I was asking for total procedures done and their cost. Because of this law, from here on in, all abortion numbers and dollars spent on abortions will be hidden from the public in Ontario. That is neither accountable nor transparent government. 

The Conservatives did nothing to stop this attack on accountability and transparency, and I have asked Mr. Hudak why, and written to him (and other Conservatives) many times. They refuse to respond. 

After much pressure to the Liberals about what they did, I have received a couple of "no response" responses. In other words, they don't answer my questions. And neither could Ms. Meilleur.

Please go to my blog and you can see what's been going on.

You can also do a search on my blog for Bill-122 Bill 122 or the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act, and you will see all my writings on this topic, including my letters to Mr. Hudak, Ms. Meilleur and Ms. Wynne. There's a ton there. 

If accountability and transparency is the backbone of PC values, then why isn't Mr. Hudak doing something about this? 

But if I could find a Conservative ally in Mr Harris, that would be awesome.  My feeling however, is that there is a "do not discuss abortion" rule in the Conservative Party, just as there is with most politicians. I hope Mr. Harris can convince me otherwise. 

I look forward to hearing back from Mr. Harris. 

Did I hear back from Mr. Harris?

Nope. I guess the Ontario Conservatives can't actually care about accountability and transparency. They just like to say they do.

Why we do what we do

I am continually surprised at the lack of publicly pro-life politicians in this country. Federally there are some, and they are very brave indeed. This posting is not about them. It's about the rest.

In Ontario, I can't even think of one publicly pro-life politician. Maybe there is one. I just wish he or she would make themselves known.

Why is that? Is it because they're scared of being demonized by the pro-abortions? Is is because they are cowards? Is it because they just don't care? Or is it all of the above?

Abortion--it's discussion in any kind of public way; the increasing lack of availability of obtaining accurate abortion statistics; the inability to get a politician to answer questions on the subject; what is all that?

The subject is going underground. It is verboten.

We used to be able to depend on Statistics Canada to provide us with accurate data. But when the quality of those statistics started deteriorating because of non-disclosure by the provinces, Statistics Canada didn't want their name attached to such inaccurate numbers. Now CIHI's numbers are inaccurate and under reported. It isn't very helpful to have numbers that paint only a partial picture of what is going on in Canada with abortion. Accurate statistics should be legislated. Why aren't they?

Federal Access to Information requests increasingly yield "cabinet confidences" and "solicitor-client privilege" excuses at an alarming rate. And information commissioners are toothless to to anything.

Ontario freedom of information requests aren't even allowed anymore. The Ontario Conservatives--who one would hope would keep the Liberals in check--did nothing to stop this from happening. These Conservatives seem to have a don't-talk-about-abortion-ever policy. They're whipped by the Government in power--a mean feat if there ever was one.

All the while children continue to be killed

Those of us who are marginalized because of our pro-life views keep on doing what we can to change the tide. It sometimes feels like we will never make any headway.

Looking over the past year though, I notice a common hopeful thread in all the people who I know who are pro-life. They are committed to the plight of the unborn. Really committed. They are driven. They don't give up and they don't give in. They speak up. Continually. They educate women. They support women in crisis pregnancies. They pray in front of abortion clinics. They write letters to the editor and op-eds for newspapers. They push for legal protection and advise politicians who will listen. They legally challenge the government, sometimes for no pay.

They do what they can, and they never stop doing it. They do it for the children. They inspire me to keep going. They are my super-heroes.

Happy New Year and God bless every one of us.

How to win friends and influence people - the Conservative way

I keep getting these super annoying emails from Ontario Conservative MPPs trying to woo me. They must be getting ready for an election.

Each time I receive such an email, I respond to the MPP with a question, asking them why they did nothing to stop the Liberal government from changing our to access information rights.

I've received at least 11 of these junk emails. In turn I have sent 11 replies asking a question about the abortion exclusion clause that the Liberals added to FIPPA under the pretext of "Broader Accountability". Not.

I'm still waiting for an answer from at least one Conservative MPP, brave enough and principled enough, to speak up. Surely there is one, right?

So far I've heard from:
Andrew Boddington
Tim Hudak (3)
Jim Wilson
Lisa Macleod
Vic Fedeli (3)
Doug Holyday
Monte McNaughton

How the Ontario Conservatives failed us

Bill 122, the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act, made all information on abortion services secret in Ontario.

This is an anti-democracy bill and the Opposition Conservatives did nothing to stop it from passing; there was no debate about the abortion exclusion clause in the Legislature.

On third reading and passing of the Bill, only 15 of 36 Conservative MPPs voted against it (see full list of MPPS below and how they voted). The ayes were 57; the the nays were 15.

Both Mr. Hudak and PC Health critic Christine Elliott didn't vote. Why didn’t they? And where were the rest of the Conservative MPPs that day, and why did they not vote against the Bill either?

The total seats in the Ontario Legislature is 107 yet there were only 72 votes cast, meaning 35 of yours and my MPPS, didn't vote.

Why didn’t Mr. Hudak do anything to stop this bill from passing? Why didn't he alert Ontarians about its repercussions? Why didn’t he work with the NDP to defeat the Bill? Why didn't he do something, anything?

The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, P.C., Chief Justice of Canada said regarding Access to Information in Canadian Democracy:
“...Informed voting depends on informed debate. Parliament and the executive branch derive their power from the people, who exercise that power by voting for or against particular people at the ballot box. For the people to effectively participate and vote, they must know and understand what the government is doing. Laws are published. But without additional information, the people cannot know how the executive branch of government is administering those laws – what the government is actually doing. And without that knowledge, informed debate is impossible. Accountable, transparent governance thus depends on the people having information about what the government is doing...

...information itself – or the possibility of information coming to light – acts as a check on abuse of powers. Public opinion and debate operate as an immediate check on potential abuse of government power..."

There are two hard lessons here for us.

First. Ms. McLachlin is talking about citizens and how democracy is undermined when we are prohibited from accessing government information. This is exactly what we are now facing with the blackout of all information around abortion services. When a government ceases to be "accountable and transparent" we have no idea "what the government is actually doing". This has tragically come to pass in Ontario.

Second. Think about how Ms. McLachlin's words also apply to our MPPS, and the hair on the back of your neck will stand up. The statement “Informed voting depends on informed debate” is a direct message to our opposition MPPs, whose very reason to exist, is to keep the government accountable. The Conservatives failed to do this. They had no idea what was going on; they weren’t informed; they didn’t vote; and they didn’t debate. The result: abuse of power by a government who made a stealth attack on the people of Ontario because the opposition was asleep at the switch.

Democracy is pointless if we don’t practice it.

How the MPPs voted.

Here are the names of the Conservative MPPs who did bother to vote against the bill on Dec. 2, 2010:

Arnott, Ted
Bailey, Robert
Barrett, Toby
Chudleigh, Ted
Dunlop, Garfield
Hardeman, Ernie
Jones, Sylvia
Miller, Norm
Munro, Julia
Ouellette, Jerry J.
Savoline, Joyce
Shurman, Peter
Wilson, Jim
Witmer, Elizabeth
Yakabuski, John

Good for them.

And these MPPs voted for the Bill:

Aggelonitis, Sophia
Albanese, Laura
Arthurs, Wayne
Balkissoon, Bas
Bartolucci, Rick
Bentley, Christopher
Bisson, Gilles
Brown, Michael A.
Cansfield, Donna H.
Chan, Michael
Chiarelli, Bob
Colle, Mike
Crozier, Bruce
Delaney, Bob
Dickson, Joe
DiNovo, Cheri
Dombrowsky, Leona
Duncan, Dwight
Flynn, Kevin Daniel
Fonseca, Peter
Gerretsen, John
Hampton, Howard
Hoskins, Eric
Hoy, Pat
Jaczek, Helena
Johnson, Rick
Kormos, Peter
Kular, Kuldip
Lalonde, Jean-Marc
Leal, Jeff
Levac, Dave
Marchese, Rosario
Matthews, Deborah
McGuinty, Dalton
McNeely, Phil
Meilleur, Madeleine
Miller, Paul
Milloy, John
Mitchell, Carol
Moridi, Reza
Murray, Glen R.
Naqvi, Yasir
Orazietti, David
Phillips, Gerry
Prue, Michael
Pupatello, Sandra
Ramal, Khalil
Rinaldi, Lou
Ruprecht, Tony
Sandals, Liz
Smith, Monique
Sousa, Charles
Takhar, Harinder S.
Van Bommel, Maria
Wilkinson, John
Wynne, Kathleen O.
Zimmer, David

If you feel inclined, you can contact your MPP here.