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I know there's a lot going on, but here's something really worth taking a second to think about (It's about this: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/11/16/toronto-public-health-officials-barred-from-publicly-revealing-their-advice-to-doug-fords-provincial-government.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=TorontoCityHall&utm_content=thread-toronto-public-health-officials-barred-from-publicly-revealing-their-advice-to-doug-fords-provincial-government)
The province, Ford & cabinet, are responsible for the well-being of Ontario's residents. They ultimately call the shots. Dr. Eileen de Villa and other local medical officers of health can do a lot. But as de Villa mentioned today, only the province can lead a coordinated approach
That's what they did when they introduced their re-opening framework. Trouble is, the thresholds, public health experts agree, were far too lax. Thanks to @jyangstar & @katecallen and only because of their excellent reporting we know Ford ignored advice given on those thresholds
Those advisory bodies have been incredibly secretive. Do you have any idea who is even on these bodies? More importantly, does the public deserve to see that advice, so that officials who choose to follow or not to follow it can be held accountable?
We're talking about, in some cases, *public* servants like those at Toronto Public Health making recommendations to *public* officials like Dr. David Williams who then gives advice to a *publicly-elected* cabinet.
Earlier, Williams said "that advice, because it's going toward a cabinet decision, has to be kept confidential." Says who? Each of these people, responsible for the safety of Ontario residents, work for the public. This government could make that advice public if they wanted to.
What they did instead was actively signal they didn't want the public to know by asking professionals and public health officials to sign away their right to tell you. And the premier scoffed today at questions about why that was.
And if you, like me, are left asking whether they have an obligation to tell us while my colleagues like Jenny and Kate work hard to dig up the truth, you are not alone.
“You deserve to see the same data I see when I’m making decisions" - Premier Doug Ford, April 2020
