The Liberal government is using "litigation chill" to hide the legal costs involved in the province's court battle with the families of autistic children, a New Democrat MPP charges.
Shelley Martel says she is being dragged into court over her attempts to uncover how much the autism battle has cost taxpayers.
The Attorney General's office has named her and Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian in its request for a judicial review of Martel's actions.
"This legal action relates directly to my efforts to find out how much the government has spent fighting the parents of autistic children in court," Martel told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday.
"This attempt at what I describe as litigation chill, demonstrates just how far the government is prepared to go to muzzle MPPs who are trying to access public information."
Martel's lawyer says the government is improperly withholding public information.
"It's not their information, it doesn't belong to them, and under the Freedom of Information Act, the default position is supposed to be disclose everything (and) withhold only certain things on listed exceptions," Frank Addario said.
Martel first asked for the province's legal costs inside the legislature, but was denied. She then submitted a Freedom of Information request, and was denied again.
The veteran New Democrat then went to the privacy commissioner, who ordered the government to release the information. She says the government ignored the commissioner's request and is trying to keep the costs secret through the judicial review.
Martel says the money being spent on the province's "courtroom bullying" would be better spent providing what the families have been asking for -- expensive IBI therapy for their autistic children.
The government said Tuesday it is not suing Martel or Cavoukian, and is appealing the order to make the information public because it does not want to release legal costs when a case is still before the courts.
Word of the judicial review comes one day after a court decision that could bring an end to the battle between families and the province.
In his decision released late Monday, Superior Court Justice Maurice Cullity rejected most of the claims of the families in their $1.25-billion lawsuit against the Ontario government and seven school boards.
Taline Sagharian and her husband are among five families at the heart of a class-action lawsuit that alleged the government failed their autistic children by not providing access to specialized treatment in school.
The families must now decide whether to proceed with what's left of their suit -- a claim that the autistic children have had their Charter rights violated by the province's policy.
Justice Cullity says it's now up to the families to decide if the courts are the proper forum to seek assistance for their kids.
Lawyer Cara Wilkie says the families can appeal the court ruling, go ahead with the suit based on the Charter arguments or end their legal fight.
She says the families are somewhat satisfied with the government's announcement two weeks ago that school boards will be required to provide specialized autism treatment in classrooms across the province, hopefully by September.
Wilkie, however, says the families hope the government will recognize they need compensation for costs they've already incurred.
With a report from CTV's Paul Bliss and files from The Canadian Press
