The Premier of Ontario’s call logs Doug FordThe premier’s private cellphones are about to be made public, Global News can reveal, after the province lost a major transparency battle over government business conducted on the premier’s personal device.
Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC), which acts as the province’s transparency watchdog, has ordered officials to formally access Ford’s personal phone records and to disclose details of calls he made and received in his capacity as prime minister.
In its ruling, the IPC determined that Ford had used his personal phone for government purposes and, therefore, declared his phone records to be public records subject to release.
The decision also caps a two-year transparency battle with the Ford government over how Premier Ford conducts government business using a personal device after Global News sought access to these files using freedom of information laws.
During the lengthy arbitration process, the government first claimed that Ford’s use of his personal cell phone for government business was mere speculation, before recognizing that the Prime Minister does indeed use his private device for public works purposes.
Ford’s personal lawyer later accused Global News of engaging in a “blatant fishing expedition,” while government lawyers told the IPC that it would be difficult and intrusive to separate the personal calls from the prime minister of those related to government affairs.
Ultimately, IPC adjudicator Justine Wai ruled that it was “reasonable to conclude that certain contents of the call logs” on Ford’s personal phone “relate to a ministerial or governmental matter.” “.
“I find that call log entries relating to government business are within the control of the Cabinet Office,” Wai wrote in his ruling. “I direct the Cabinet Office to obtain the relevant information from the party concerned and make an access decision to the appellant.”
The order was, however, temporarily suspended at the end of December 2024, with the government preparing a legal challenge.
Ford has given out his number several times
As part of its retail policy, Ford regularly distributes its personal cell phone number as a means of communicating directly with taxpayers and voters across the province.
Ford also distributed its figures at business-focused events, including the Empire Club, a Toronto Real Estate Board conference and a worker meet-and-greet day. at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
Political critics have cited these latest examples as proof that stakeholders seeking to influence government policy have direct access to the province’s top decision-maker and have called for transparency.
Get the latest national news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up to receive breaking news alerts sent directly to you as they happen.
In November 2022, Global News filed a Freedom of Information request to access call logs from the Prime Minister’s private cell phone for a period of one week. At the time, Ford publicly suggested that government policy had been influenced by telephone calls he received during this period.
The Prime Minister’s Government Machinery Is Unused
Shortly after, Global News revealed that Ford’s government-issued cell phone went unused for the entire month of November 2022, as well as several more months during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overall, an IPC arbitrator found that the regularity with which Ford hands out its phone number and the fact that its government phone has gone unused for months means that at least some of the calls Ford makes on its personal device are related to government business.
“In the absence of calls made to the party’s government cell phone, and given his public invitation to contact him on his personal cell phone without any apparent limitation as to purpose, it is reasonable to conclude that “At least some of the calls made to the personal cell phone of the affected party were made in connection with ministerial or government business,” Wai wrote in his ruling.
Wai added that it is “highly unlikely and unreasonable to believe” that someone in the highest elected office at Queen’s Park did not make government-related calls on their taxpayer-funded mobile phone or on his private device.
“It is also unlikely that the party concerned would have provided their personal mobile phone number on a large scale and at public events… and not received any calls regarding matters relating to the Government or the Cabinet Office,” it said. Wai said.
Neither the IPC nor government privacy staff actually saw Ford’s personal journal, which he and his lawyers kept closely throughout the appeal process.
Separating Personal Calls Can Be Difficult
Despite the ruling that at least some of the calls to Ford’s personal phone are related to his role as prime minister and should be made public, the IPC has made clear that it does not expect every call to be published.
“I do not believe that the Cabinet Office has control over the entirety of the call logs and I am not ordering a ‘general release’ of the call logs,” Wai wrote.
Instead, she asked officials to obtain a copy of Ford’s call log and go through it line by line to determine which calls may concern his government and which are truly personal. The IPC said the process should be possible for privacy officials and is only necessary because of the way the prime minister has handled his communications.
“I recognize that it may be difficult to separate the different roles that the affected party plays as an elected official and a private citizen,” Wai wrote.
“Nevertheless, it is the responsibility of elected officials to use their various tools in their various functions appropriately, to protect the public’s right of access under the (Freedom of Information) Act, and to effectively separate government matters of their personal and constituency affairs.”
Not disclosing the information could “infringe” on freedom of information
The IPC said not communicating government calls from one’s personal device would “undermine the objectives” of Ontario’s freedom of information laws.
“Call log entries resulting from the affected party’s government-related calls are the very type of information to which the law was created to ensure public access, subject to limited and specific exemptions,” Wai wrote in his decision.
“However, the affected party chose to make these calls on their personal cell phone and not their government-issued cell phone. It would be contrary to the purposes of the Act to allow the affected party to protect information relating to government-related telephone calls by simply making or receiving those calls on their personal device.
The Ford government has filed an application for judicial review of the order, which will also be fought by the premier’s own lawyers.
As part of this process, the IPC is considering an application to stay its order requiring Ford to disclose his phone records while the judicial review is contested.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.