Ontario budget bill to block FOI access to Premier Doug Ford’s cellphone records

Ontario’s new omnibus budget bill will skip public hearings and retroactively block Freedom‑of‑Information requests for Premier Doug Ford’s cellphone records, the government said Monday.^[1]

The move matters because it shields the premier and cabinet ministers from public scrutiny, limiting journalists and Ontarians from accessing documents that could reveal how public funds are used and whether policy decisions were influenced by private communications.^[1]

The legislation, introduced in the province’s Legislative Assembly in Toronto, amends the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to create a narrow exemption for the premier’s personal devices. By making the change retroactive, the government can deny any request for records dating back to before the bill’s passage—effectively erasing a decade of potential evidence. Critics said the amendment undermines the purpose of the FOI regime, which is to promote transparency and accountability.

Opposition parties said the amendment is a "dangerous precedent" that weakens democratic oversight. The Ontario New Democratic Party said the measure “a blunt instrument to hide political decisions,” while the Liberal caucus said future governments could use the same loophole to shield themselves from inquiry. Premier Ford said the change is needed to protect the privacy of elected officials and to keep personal communications out of the public arena.

Ontario has a long history of FOI battles. In 2022, the province faced a court ruling that forced it to release emails related to a major infrastructure project. The current amendment reverses that trend, creating a statutory shield that could be invoked in any future request involving the premier’s phone, a step analysts said was a significant retreat from openness.