The Ford government likes to publish policy decisions on Friday afternoons prior to long weekends.
It’s an excellent strategic means of controlling narratives. It’s also a bit cowardly.
Publishing policy decisions on Friday afternoons before holiday weekends accomplish several things for the Ford government.
First, it gives journalists little time to analyze and report on the subject in a timely fashion.
Second, it ensures no one from the government or public institutions is around to answer the phone when journalists call to clarify the facts.
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Third, it inherently means fewer people notice the announcement, even if it is reported on, since many of us have already checked-out for a few days. By the time people are back to work, the story from three- or four-days prior is buried under more recent news.
Fourth, it impairs the ability of those impacted by the decision from co-ordinating an effective immediate response. Again, it’s tough to do so when most people are at home with family, rather than at work.
It’s a simple and rather ingenious delay tactic, really. It’s also one I most recently contended with on June 27, the Friday before this year’s Canada Day long weekend.
Just before lunch that day, the government of Ontario announced via press release it was “Taking Action to Make Conservation Authorities More Effective” by appointing a chief conservation executive. I would have never known about the announcement — one of eight updates published that day — had it not been brought to my attention by a conservationist colleague. It was brought to my attention, however, thus I spent the remainder of that Friday (and a bit of Saturday) reporting on the development.
Trying to report on it is, perhaps, a better way to phrase it.
The press release is vague, full of positive messaging, but contains little detail. Nothing on how the appointment of an overseeing executive would impact conservation authorities, nor what the province really means by “making Conservation Authorities more effective.”
Considering the Ford government’s repeated undermining of conservation authorities — and many other environmental safeguards on which Ontarians rely — it’s possible the executive appointment is another win for developers, and a further nail in the lid for conservation authorities and their mandates.
This is, of course, just speculation based on past experience — again, the press release reveals very little.
Conservation Ontario had no prior knowledge the announcement was forthcoming, and could provide no immediate insight.
I sought clarification via phone and email from the Ministry of Environment, Conservation, and Parks media relations department, as well as Minister Todd McCarthy’s office. I also called the office of the individual who has been appointed to the chief conservation executive position.
The ministry’s media relations office acknowledged receipt of the request for clarification, though no subsequent information was provided. No reply of any kind was received by the other two parties.
I waited to file the story until the following day, out of an abundance of caution — if not lingering hope — that someone would provide some semblance of valuable information, despite being outside regular working hours. To no avail.
There are other cases where the province has been creative with their timing and method. On December 28, 2023, for example, conservation authorities were notified via letter that their ability to protect important watersheds and species at risk were being significantly curtailed as of January 1, 2024 — a period of just three days over the peak winter holiday season.
Conservation authorities, as well as municipal planners, were left scrambling. Some of the earliest reporting on the subject was only possible because the letters sent by the government had been leaked to reporters.
Then there was 2020’s Bill 229, “Protect, Support and Recover from COVID-19 Act.”
The name implies efforts to address acute pandemic-related economic issues, yet the omnibus bill also contained proposals to curtail conservation authorities’ role in development regulation, while enabling the environment minister to streamline development permits without watershed data or conservation authorityexpertise.
A similar thing happened with the massive and highly controversial Bill 5, when the Ford government shut down debate in order to pass the legislation in a matter of weeks, and just prior to the 2025 summer recess.
The Ford government is certainly not the first one to use wide-reaching legislative packages to make widely unpopular changes to unrelated or adjacent policy areas. They are also not the first and only government to make use of strategically timed announcements, nor a policy of silence and ignorance when it comes to journalists. That, unfortunately, is a problem for all kinds of public and private organizations. The agriculture sector is by no means exempt either.
I’ve waited weeks for replies to questions posed to government ministries — replies I was assured would arrive, but never did. I’ve also been totally stonewalled, with attempts to reach government officials and industry organizations being repeatedly ignored. When replies are forthcoming, they frequently ignore the exact question, deflect the issue in some way, or otherwise say little of relevance. Such responses amount to little more than a face-saving measure, preventing me from writing something akin to “the relevant source did not respond to repeated requests for clarification.”
Such experiences are common in the journalism world. Indeed, news organizations frequently resort to Freedom of Information requests — themselves time consuming and costly for both governments and requestor — because there just isn’t another option. The Canadian Association of Journalists even presents the ignominious “code of silence” award to governments and organizations who are particularly adept at hiding information to which the public has a right.
In the case of the Ford government’s June 27 announcement, the repeated hamstringing of conservation authorities in recent years, and environmental protections more generally, is why I speculate the surprise eleventh-hour creation of a chief conservation executive may not be positive news. Unless you’re a developer. In which case, you’ve likely been laughing this whole time.
The bottom line — the Ford government is almost slavishly pursuant of development. They are removing environmental safeguards, overriding municipal planning, opening up protected areas, and accelerating farmland loss by moves both overt and covert.
Effectively holding our public servants to account necessitates vigilance for both. For us in the news trade, that likely means more hectic Friday afternoons.
