Suspended
Medical condition reports are little-known but widely used provincial forms that some medical professionals must file to the ministry when patients have certain potentially dangerous conditions that “warrant a licence suspension,” according to the ministry.
MCRs take thousands of Ontarians off the road every year. In many cases, they can help make our roads safer.
But the system is vulnerable to abuse, inconsistency and misjudgment by doctors and government officials, an Investigative Journalism Bureau and Toronto Star investigation has found.
Bill targets Ontario’s driver’s licence suspension system
The proposed amendments to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act come in response to an investigation by the Investigative Journalism Bureau (IJB) and the Toronto Star that found many safe drivers are having their licences suspended without any advance warning.
Read the story‘Pattern of secretive behaviour’: Ford, Mulroney questioned for suppressing information on road-safety program
Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles called out the government at Queen’s Park today for suppressing dozens of answers prepared by civil servants responding to questions from the Investigative Journalism Bureau and Toronto Star. Staff in the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) prepared the answers for journalists investigating a controversial program that routinely suspends the licences of safe drivers. But Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney’s office blocked their release, according to internal communications obtained through freedom-of-information requests.
Read the storyWhy is Ontario suspending so many licenses?
There are indeed medical reasons that require your driver's licence to be suspended. But there are a host of other issues, everything from depression to cold sores, that have been cited as medical reasons in licence suspensions in Ontario. What's happening here? At the core of the issue are MCRs—medical condition reports that can often trigger an automatic suspension, even for a condition that doesn't impact driving, or a condition the driver may not even have. Why is Ontario handing out hundreds of thousands of these suspensions? Who benefits from all these filings? And what recourse do people have when their ability to drive—and with it, often, their livelihood—is taken away? IJB reporter Declan Keogh discusses the issue on The Big Story
Listen to the podcastWe asked the Ontario government about its controversial licence suspensions. Staff prepared answers. Then they were told to withhold them
Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney’s office blocked the release of information about a controversial provincial program that routinely suspends the licences of safe drivers based on alleged health conditions. Emails from the provincial Transportation Ministry, obtained through freedom of information requests, document the suppression of dozens of responses prepared by civil servants answering questions posed by IJB and Toronto Star reporters last year.
Read the storyOntario should review process for suspending licences
For many, having a driver’s licence is a lifeline for personal chores and for work. Yet drivers who are medically unfit to drive can pose a serious risk to others. Safeguarding personal freedom while protecting society against unsafe drivers demands fairness. It’s not clear the system in Ontario strikes that balance.
Read the editorialMedical condition reports: How a diagnosis can lead to a suspended licence
Imagine having your licence suspended and you didn’t know it was in jeopardy? It all comes down to medical condition reports (MCRs), widely used forms that some medical professionals must file when patients have potentially dangerous conditions that “warrant a licence suspension,” according to the ministry. A joint investigation by the Toronto Star and the Investigative Journalism Bureau at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health has found these reports and suspensions have been applied haphazardly and they have had a devastating affect on a person’s life.
Listen to the podcastSix things to know about Ontario’s controversial medical condition report system
Medical condition reports (MCRs) take thousands of Ontarians off the road each year. In many cases, they can help make our roads safer. But the program also suspends the licences of some drivers who pose no threat, imperiling livelihoods and sowing distrust in the health-care system, a Toronto Star/Investigative Journalism Bureau investigation has found. Here are six things you should know about Ontario’s controversial MCR program.
Read the story‘You lose your job, you lose your livelihood’: NDP will push for reform of Ontario program that has unfairly stripped drivers of their licences
Ontario’s NDP is pushing for reform of a provincial program that takes drivers off the road based on their alleged health conditions — even in cases where the drivers don’t actually pose any danger. The move comes after a Toronto Star/Investigative Journalism Bureau (IJB) investigation found that Ontario’s system for reporting potentially unsafe drivers is unfairly stripping many of not just their licences, but also their livelihoods.
Read the storyOntario’s Kafkaesque approach to revoking the licences of drivers deemed medically unfit to drive
According to a Toronto Star/Investigative Journalism Bureau investigation, doctors alone file an average of more than 35,000 MCRs each year, with a small minority responsible for the lion’s share of reports. Yet according to a review of nearly 200 appeals, about one-third resulted in the suspension being overturned.
Read the editorialHerpes. Hay Fever. Sexual ‘deviations.’ Doctors cite dubious conditions when billing for patients’ fitness-to-drive reports
Data also reveals just 20 doctors have billed for filing 15 percent of all medical condition reports in Ontario. Experts say that’s cause for concern.
Read the storyThere was no evidence they drove after drinking. So why did they lose their licences for longer than Ontarians convicted of impaired driving?
Drivers who pose little to no threat are being caught up in an Ontario program that doctors say is indiscriminate and draconian.
Read the story‘You’re guilty until proven innocent:’ Doctors question Ontario’s automatic licence suspensions for drivers with certain medical conditions
Ontario doctors must report their patients with high-risk medical conditions that could impact a patient’s ability to drive, even when they believe they pose no risk to road safety. Meanwhile, in Quebec, Nova Scotia and Alberta, reporting is discretionary to varying degrees — meaning the decision is left to the practitioner’s own judgment.
Read the storyShe confided in a doctor about her depression. The next thing she knew, the government took away her driver’s licence
Medical condition reports take thousands of Ontarians off the road every year. In many cases, they can help make our roads safer. But the system is vulnerable to abuse, inconsistency and misjudgment by doctors and government officials.
Read the story