As Premier Doug Ford faces the possibility of having to hand over his personal cell phone records to the public, the Ontario government is actively trying to overturn an official ruling from the Information and Privacy Commissioner, launching a legal challenge to escalate the fight.
Lawyers for the government have filed a request for a judicial review of the IPC’s decision, claiming an adjudicator with the transparency watchdog “erred” in her order that Ford must release his records.
The judicial review will be contested by lawyers for the provincial government as well as those representing the premier himself.
The request for a review includes a list of reasons the government believes the IPC came to the wrong decision, including “giving insufficient weight” to some of the points raised by the government during the appeal process.
The latest twist in the years-long transparency battle comes after lawyers for the attorney general and the premier raised questions throughout the freedom of information adjudication process and accusations of bias.
During Global News’ appeal in front of the IPC, lawyers representing Ford personally were allowed to submit evidence. As part of their arguments, they alleged the adjudicator could be seen as biased.
Ford’s lawyers said in representations to the IPC that they were “deeply troubled by the highly unorthodox manner” the appeal had been handled, claiming there was a “reasonable apprehension of bias” on the part of the adjudicator.
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They argued that Global News’ decision to publish new information revealed through the appeal “can unfortunately taint an adjudicator or a finder of fact and result in a reasonable apprehension of bias.”
The IPC rejected the arguments in an order released before the final ruling.
Later, Ford’s lawyers also accused Global News of “a blatant fishing expedition” over the premier’s personal cellphone records.
“The requester does not even know what species of fish it is seeking but rather like a factory vessel net dragging the bottom and catching everything in the ocean, it will simply sort out later which particular fish are of interest (if any), discarding in the process the carcasses of its trail of destruction of third-party privacy rights as so much collateral damage in its efforts to manufacture a story,” the premier’s lawyers wrote.
Despite the arguments put forward by Ford’s lawyers and the government, the IPC ruled the records must be released and ordered civil servants to access government calls made on Ford’s personal phone.
The IPC concluded the regularity with which the premier reads his personal phone number out at events, coupled with the fact his government-issued phone has been unused for months at a time, meant Ford was using his private cell phone to take calls in his capacity as premier.
The government will now embark on an appeal of that decision through the court system, suggesting the adjudicator’s ruling was wrong.
Global News sent a list of questions to the premier’s office about the appeal, the logic behind it and its cost. A spokesperson claimed the privacy of constituents was part of the decision.
“We maintain that protecting the privacy of the constituents is paramount,” they said.
The decision the government is set to appeal in court includes specific stipulations from the IPC that releasing Ford’s government-related calls should not infringe on either his privacy or that of those calling him in a personal capacity.
“I confirm this finding does not deny the affected party or other identifiable individuals privacy protection,” the adjudicator wrote in her decision. “I do not find cabinet office has control over the entirety of the call logs and I am not ordering a ‘blanket release’ of the call logs.”
One transparency expert said the government’s decision to appeal against the ruling was unwelcome but not surprising.
“It does not make sense to drag this further — is it common? It absolutely is common,” James Turk, from the Centre for Free Expression, told Global News.
“The Ontario government and the cabinet office and the premier are particularly difficult when it comes to access for information.”
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles called on the government to drop its appeal — suggesting it was a waste of resources.
“Instead of focusing on the very serious threat of tariffs and the devastating impact it will have on our province, Doug Ford is focused on his own political future and hiding information from the public,” she said in a statement to Global News.
“What is he hiding and why is he willing to go to such great lengths to keep these phone records secret?”