Fishing expedition or improper shield? Doug Ford personal cellphone fight heads to court
Global News
A panel of three Ontario judges heard arguments on a request by the provincial government for a judicial review of a decision handed down by the IPC last year.
Lawyers for the Ontario government and Doug Ford say a landmark decision from the province’s transparency watchdog ordering the premier to potentially release calls on his personal cellphone is a “make-work project” that entertained irrelevant and unreliable evidence.
On Wednesday, a panel of three Ontario judges heard a request by the provincial government for a judicial review of an Information and Privacy Commission decision handed down last year.
Teams arguing for the records to be given over to government staff for review and release said that allowing the premier to “shield” his communications from transparency by using his personal phone would “undermine” democracy in the province.
At the tail end of 2024, the IPC issued two rulings siding with freedom of information requests from Global News and an Ontario doctor seeking access to calls made on Premier Ford’s personal cellphone.
The ruling found that some of the contents of the call logs on Ford’s personal phone “relate to a department or government business matter.”
After two years of arguments, an adjudicator with the IPC concluded it was logical to believe Ford was using his personal phone for government business.
“It is not merely speculative that the affected party used his personal cell phone number in relation to his official or professional capacity or in Cabinet Office-related work,” the ruling read.
“It is also unlikely the affected party would have provided his personal cell phone number widely and at public events as the appellant referred to (and neither Cabinet Office nor the affected party refuted) and received no calls relating to government or Cabinet Office-related matters.”
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A panel of three Ontario judges heard arguments on a request by the provincial government for a judicial review of a decision handed down by the IPC last year.
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