TORONTO - The union representing journalists and other Toronto Star employees is adding its voice to those complaining about Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's boycott of the newspaper's reporters.
Ford's decision to exclude Star reporters in emails about city events and press releases threatens the ability of all reporters to do their job, said Paul Morse, president of Local 87-M of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.
Morse said Ford's action ultimately affects the ability of the electorate to judge the performance of their politicians.
Meeting notices and press releases are issued by the city about public events and the spending of public money, Morse noted.
As such, they are public documents that must be made available to the public, including Star reporters, he said.
"These are documents created by public servants, about public issues, paid for by public taxes," Morse said. "That makes them public documents, not the private property of Mayor Ford."
"Here you have someone who ran on a platform of respecting the taxpayer, who's slapping the face of the public who elected him," he said.
Morse said that Ford, if left unchallenged, could exclude other news outlets as a way of controlling the information to taxpayers.
John Honderich, chairman of Torstar Corp., wrote last week that the newspaper would file a complaint with Toronto's integrity commissioner.
Ford has stated he won't lift the ban until the Star makes a front-page apology for an article that appeared more than a year ago that he says was false.
