Close this fake news machine

Doug Ford being interviewed by Ford Nation Live, the precursor of Ontario News Now.

Premier Doug Ford’s office is reportedly considering overhauling its taxpayer-funded propaganda arm, Ontario News Now.

That would be worthy of applause if “overhauling” meant shutting it down — and if it was being done for the right reasons.

But there’s the rub. Instead of recognizing that distributing fake news reports on social media in an attempt to fool the public is an affront to democracy, the Progressive Conservative government is apparently reconsidering ONN’s usefulness because it is, ahem, a failure.

It turns out that for all it costs, Conservative sources are confiding in our Queen’s Park bureau chief Robert Benzie that few people are tuning in. Indeed, it has only 10,500 Twitter followers, fewer than many Queen’s Park press gallery reporters.

That is despite the fact that ONN is reportedly paying some of its staff six-figure salaries and flying them around on trips with the premier at taxpayer expense.

Worse for the Ford government, the operation has come under criticism from its right-wing base, including the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, never mind those who lean to the left.

Now, some of Ford’s cabinet ministers are telling the Star they resent being forced to do interviews for the fake news channel, which they deem a waste of their time, credibility and the government’s resources.

If that weren’t enough of a reason to shut it down, it’s attracting negative publicity for a government that has had more than its fair share.

Two weeks ago, for example, ONN came under fire after Ford urged Ontarians to buy wines from Pelee Island Winery.

Why the fuss? It turns out the president of the winery, Walter Schmoranz, had made two donations to the PC Party totalling $2,050 just weeks before it was featured in the video.

Apparently he wasn’t the only business leader who was seemingly rewarded for his contributions. As CTV reported, at least five other businesses whose owners or presidents donated to the party have “benefited from a personal visit from the premier or a promotional video.”

That smacks of requiring businesses to pay for access to the premier. As NDP MPP Marit Stiles said: “The fact that he’s using his taxpayer-funded fake news channel to do it is an insult to Ontarians.”

Ontario News Now isn’t the only means by which the Ford government has tried to fool the public. In the lead-up to the election, the Progressive Conservative Party created a precursor to ONN, Ford Nation Live, with a staff member acting as a reporter to fawningly “cover” the Ford campaign.

And in an even more outrageous move, one of the party’s candidates paid fake supporters to rally for Ford outside the leaders’ debate in Toronto.

At the same time, the government has actually tried to curb legitimate news coverage by limiting real reporters’ access to Ford, his ministers and others in the PC party.

It did so by having party officials control who got to ask questions at press conferences and requiring taxpayer-funded staff to cheer and clap to drown out questions from reporters that they didn’t want the public to hear.

As the Star has argued, when a government takes steps to limit media scrutiny, what it’s really doing is reducing public scrutiny. And a government that is less transparent is also less accountable.

So, if ONN is shut down, it shouldn’t be because the PC party’s communications specialists now deem it a liability. It should be because it’s an affront to the citizens the government was elected to represent and a misuse of their tax dollars.