Suspended

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Drivers who pose little to no threat are being caught up in an Ontario program that doctors say is indiscriminate and draconian.

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.

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.