The acting auditor general did not use gentle language. Over more than 800 pages, his 2023 report showed a government falling short on health care, environmental responsibility, and honest public consultation. He found more than 200 unplanned emergency department closures in a single year and rising wait times that leave patients in hallways instead of proper beds.
Those numbers are not abstract. Seniors feel every extra hour on a stretcher. They see northern communities leaning on agency nurses at levels the auditor general said were roughly 25 times higher than the rest of Ontario. That kind of dependence is a symptom of a system in crisis, one the Ford government has allowed to drift while it chases expensive pet projects.
The same report called out something deeper and more corrosive: a pattern of skipping meaningful public consultation on major policies. The Greenbelt changes moved ahead without genuine public involvement. A new provincial energy strategy emerged while commitments under the Environmental Bill of Rights were ignored. Even the choice to move the Ontario Science Centre to Ontario Place, a decision the auditor general described as not fully informed, left landowners, school groups and the public in the dark.
That is why a new charter for public consultation matters so much for land use planning and provincial policy. At its core, such a charter would set clear rules: people get to see proposals early, understand who benefits, weigh the full costs and speak before decisions are baked in. Seniors, families, workers and local volunteers would not learn about a major land swap or hospital change from a leak or a headline, but from open briefings in their own communities.
A short look at the evidence behind this call helps. On the research side, the auditor general documented frequent failures to meet existing consultation duties, highlighted the Greenbelt and energy strategy as high-profile examples, and warned that the environment ministry itself was not championing the Environmental Bill of Rights. In practice, communities have watched emergency rooms close temporarily, seen northern residents struggle for equitable care and learned that the Science Centre relocation went ahead without key players even being asked. From these facts comes a clear interpretation: when government hides the process, public trust collapses and every policy fight becomes harder, costlier and more polarized.
There are also insights that rarely get said out loud. Public consultation is not a courtesy; it is infrastructure, just as real as a bridge or a clinic, because it carries the weight of shared decisions. Land use planning is not only about where homes go; it shapes health outcomes, climate resilience and the cost of living seniors face on fixed incomes. And in a province with an aging population, seniors are not passive observers; they are among the most experienced witnesses to what happens when governments stop listening.
What should a new charter look like in practice. It would require early, plain language notices for major health, housing and land use decisions, not last-minute postings. It would ensure that online postings are matched with town halls in northern and rural communities, where internet access and transportation are real barriers. It would commit the province to publishing full cost benefit analyses, including who gains financially, before cabinet signs off on a deal.
For Ontario seniors and everyone who shares Liberal values of public service and fairness, the path forward is clear. Push every candidate, every minister and every local official to support a binding charter for public consultation that covers health care planning, land use, energy policy and cultural institutions. Restoring trust will not happen with one news conference. It will happen when people can point to a controversial decision and say: they told us the truth, they listened, and they changed course when communities spoke up.
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This article was created using research from the cited references below, a human editor and an AI-assisted workflow.