Episode 266: Justin Safayeni on the Ontario Government's Overnight Evisceration of Access to Information
From Law Bytes by Michael Geist
April 27, 2026 · 43 min
About this episode
Justin Safayeni discusses the implications of the Ontario government's rapid changes to the access to information system.
Just over a month ago, the Ford government tabled Bill 97, an omnibus bill with provisions fundamentally restructuring Ontario's access to information system. Information and Privacy Commissioner Patricia Kosseim responded with alarm, but the government rushed ahead with no hearings or public debate. The most significant rewrite of Ontario's access to information regime in nearly forty years became law within weeks. Justin Safayeni, a partner at Stockwoods LLP in Toronto, is one of Canada's leading practitioners in access to information and media law. He joins me on the Law Bytes podcast to make sense of what just happened and what comes next.
People in this episode
Host: Michael Geist
Guest: Justin Safayeni
Topics covered
- access to information
- Ontario government
- privacy law
- media law
- legislation
- public debate
Keywords
- access to information
- Ontario
- Bill 97
- privacy
- media law
- government legislation
- public debate
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Stockwoods LLP, Ontario Government
Places: Ontario
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