Request for Release of Action Plan - Ontario

News - NETWORK NEWS

Request for Release of Action Plan - Ontario 

In July 2021, Public Health Ontario submitted a report to the Minister of Health of Ontario giving advice on how to implement better health services for Ontarians with ME, FM and MCS.

That report has not been made public.

This is an important report for Ontarians, plus it could be used for discussions in other jurisdictions.

The National ME/FM Action Network has written a letter to the Minister asking for release of the Action Plan. Member of the Provincial Parliament, Ms Chandra Pasma, hand-delivered our letter to the Minister of Health on Monday November 21, 2022, accompanied by a supportive letter from Ms Pasma.

You can read our letter here:

You can read Ms Pasma's accompanying letter here.

Update Jan 20, 2023

We have not received a reply to our letter asking for the report's release.

In February 2022, the opposition health critic, MPP France Gélinas, submitted a freedom-of-information request for the report. In December 2022, the Ontario Minister of Health released a very heavily redacted version of the report.

You can see the redacted report here. Most of the pages are blank.

The Minister is relying on Section 13 (1) of Ontario's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act which says that the Minister does not have to release a report that is "advice to government".

Ms Gélinas argues that it is in the public interest to release the report and that some of the exceptions under section 13 (2) apply in this case. Ms Gélinas is continuing her appeal for the report's full release.