Ontario's quiet privatization (Americanization) — and the data that makes it visible
Protect Ontario is a project that tracks and visualizes what's happening to public services and accountability in Ontario under the Ford government. When spending shifts from public to private hands, when legislation opens the door to corporate control of water or species protection, when land and accountability are traded for developer access — the patterns are often buried in spreadsheets, legalese, or press releases. Protect Ontario makes those patterns visible.
We cover healthcare (private staffing agencies, for-profit clinics, hospital deficits), water (Bill 60 and the path to corporate control), the Greenbelt scandal and RCMP investigation, and Bill 5's impact on species and Indigenous rights. We use only publicly available data and sources, document our methodology, and clearly distinguish between raw data and our interpretation. The goal is not to tell you what to think, but to give you the tools to see what's actually happening — so you can make informed decisions and hold power to account.
Protect Ontario follows a few core principles:
You can open Data Sources and Methodology from the nav to see the full details.
Protect Ontario is maintained by a small team at Dark AI. Editorial decisions and updates are made internally based on publicly available sources and documented methodology.
Funding: Protect Ontario is currently unfunded and has no paid sponsors. If that changes, we will disclose funding sources and any conflicts of interest.
Information is power — but only when it's accessible. When spending shifts, when legislation changes, when accountability is weakened, the details are often buried in spreadsheets and legalese. Protect Ontario makes those details visible so citizens, journalists, and researchers can see what's actually happening and hold power to account.
Transparency is a public good. The data we use is public. The patterns are real. Our role is to make them visible so that informed public discourse — and action — can happen.
Questions about Protect Ontario, data corrections, or suggestions? Get in touch.