Case will target retroactive, excessive secrecy measures in Ford’s budget Bill 97, opposed by most voters, that hide communications between ministers and lobbyists and others trying to influence the government

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, April 30, 2026

TORONTO – Today, Democracy Watch announced that it will soon file a constitutional challenge to the excessive government secrecy measures in the PC Party Doug Ford government’s recently enacted budget Bill 97.

The measures, which were rammed through the Ontario legislature along with the rest of Bill 97 without any committee hearings, make records in the custody or control of a Cabinet Minister’s or Parliamentary Assistant’s office (unless the records are in the custody of another institution) exempt from disclosure under Ontario’s open government law (the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA)). The measures apply retroactively back to 1988.

The changes mean that communications of Cabinet ministers, Parliamentary Assistants or their staff with lobbyists and others outside the government who are trying to influence the Cabinet’s decisions can no longer be requested under Ontario’s open government law.  Because the measures apply retroactively, every past request back to 1988 in which the records have not yet been disclosed is effectively cancelled, even if Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner or a court has issued an order that those records be disclosed.

Premier Ford and his Cabinet ministers made many false claims about the measures, but Ford essentially admitted when responding to media questions, and in the legislature, that the measures are to protect his cellphone records from being disclosed to the public.

Ford uses his personal cellphone for government business calls.  Several years ago, a journalist and a member of the public requested Ford’s cellphone call log records (not including personal information contained in the records) concerning the Greenbelt scandal and decisions made during COVID.  Premier Ford refused to disclose the records.  The Information Commissioner’s office ordered Ford to disclose the records in November 2024.  Ford challenged the order in court, and in December 2025 the Divisional Court upheld the Commissioner’s order that Ford was required to disclose the records.

The changes make the Ford Cabinet the most secretive of all cabinets across Canada, and will derail freedom of information (FOI) requests that have revealed scandals in the past, including the Greenbelt scandal.  A survey showed that 60% of Ontario voters oppose the changes (including 53% of PC Party supporters), while only 24% support them, and 64% think the changes are aimed at reducing government accountability.

According to a survey in January 2025, more than 85% of Canadians want to know the details of all lobbying activities, and more than 80% are concerned about the corrupting effects of secret, unethical lobbying on politicians’ policy-making decisions.

“The changes that the Ford government rammed through the legislature are dangerously undemocratic and will make Cabinet ministers’ decisions and actions much more secretive, and that will lead to even more corruption, waste of the public’s money and other abuses of power,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch. “Democracy Watch’s court case will challenge the constitutionality of both Ford’s excessive secrecy measures, and the fact that they apply retroactively and, in effect, overturn a binding court order.”

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that voters have a constitutional right to disclosure of government information that they need to have meaningful debates, and make informed choices, on matters of public importance, including concerning the conduct of politicians and government officials. As far as Democracy Watch has determined, the retroactivity issue in the case has not been ruled on by Canadian courts.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch
Tel: (613) 241-5179
Cell: 416-546-3443
Email: [email protected]

Democracy Watch’s Open Government Campaign