OPP: Is a probe the best use of the Anti-Rackets division’s time?,

Ah, the leak. It’s as old as government itself. The only thing that’s changed is the format it comes in. It’s no longer whispered government secrets written down on parchment, secured with a wax seal and carried to its destination on horseback. These days, it’s official documents tucked in envelopes and handed off over coffee, or sent via email.

And why not? People in general are not good at keeping secrets.

As Benjamin Franklin put it: “Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.”

And the number of people it takes to draft 81 pages of proposed legislation to restructure Ontario’s health care system and incorporate a new super agency to oversee it all is considerably more than that.

So it’s little wonder that the Ford government’s confidential documents, released by the Ontario New Democratic Party in recent days, have come to light.

What is a little surprising is the government’s decision to call in the cavalry — in this case, the Ontario Provincial Police Anti-Rackets Branch — to investigate the leak.

According to the acting secretary of cabinet, Steven Davidson, the province’s top civil servant, the employee who leaked the documents has already been found and fired. And he sent a memo to all staff reminding them that the oath of public office and confidentiality notices do mean something, and breaching them “can have serious consequences.”

So, at this point, what role is there for the police in this affair, other than the heavy-handed tactic of trying to sow fear to keep everyone else in line?

Is that really how we want to use the police in Ontario? And, should the OPP decide to investigate, how can this possibly be the best use of the Anti-Rackets division’s time? It also investigates political corruption, health care fraud and schemes targeting vulnerable seniors.

Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives were certainly not riding this particular high horse when they were in opposition and on the receiving end of confidential Liberal government documents.

In 2017, the PCs received documents that showed the government’s cut to hydro bills would be temporary and costs would spike in a few years. They weren’t concerned then about the source of the documents or the public service’s requirement to protect confidential information.

The fact that they were “leaked documents” and “marked confidential” figured prominently in their press release of the day, which claimed that they had proof that hydro rates would “skyrocket to highest level ever after the election.”

Then, it was the Liberal energy minister who was scrambling to say the documents didn’t mean what the PCs claimed. They were “outdated” and “inaccurate.”

Now it’s PC Health Minister Christine Elliott who has had to rush out to claim that NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has misinterpreted these documents and the government doesn’t have an agenda to privatize more health-care services. The documents, she says, are “not finalized” and a “very early version.”

We’ll know soon enough who is more right, and hopefully it won’t be to the detriment of Ontarians who need improved health care services, not chaos or cuts.

What we know already is that Ford’s Progressive Conservatives think something is wrong only if it benefits someone else.