Ontario fights ruling to release Ford’s personal call records

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s legal team is pushing back against a major transparency ruling that could force the release of call logs from his personal cellphone, arguing in court that the order is based on flawed reasoning and risks creating an overwhelming administrative burden for the province.

A three-judge panel convened Wednesday to review the Ontario government’s challenge of a decision made by the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC), which determined there were reasonable grounds to believe Ford used his private phone for government-related conversations.

Groups advocating for disclosure said allowing a premier to conduct public business on a personal device without oversight undermines open government principles and weakens democracy. They argued that Ford should not be able to avoid transparency simply by using a private number.

The IPC’s late-2024 ruling followed freedom-of-information requests seeking access to the premier’s call logs. The adjudicator found it “logical and probable” that Ford handled government matters on his personal cellphone, especially given his long-standing practice of publicly sharing his number at events.

The decision concluded that some calls were likely tied to official duties, making portions of the logs subject to public record review. The government quickly appealed, claiming the ruling overemphasizes transparency while undervaluing privacy rights built into provincial law.

Ford has recently acknowledged a flood of incoming calls and urged organizations to centralize communications through designated contacts. His lawyers argue that the IPC’s order is unprecedented and could impact thousands of public servants who occasionally use personal devices.