Watchdog ramps up enforcement as Ford-era staff face orders to hand over personal device records
Ontario’s information watchdog is using stronger enforcement powers to compel Doug Ford and a former staffer to disclose records from personal devices, prompting court challenges that could reshape access to government information.
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By Torontoer Staff
Ontario’s information and privacy commissioner, Patricia Kosseim, says her office is increasingly using firmer enforcement powers to force disclosure of government business kept on personal accounts and devices, a practice she calls a worrying trend.
Two high-profile cases now before Ontario courts involve Premier Doug Ford and Ryan Amato, a former senior political staffer tied to the Greenbelt controversy. The outcomes will test how transparency rules apply to communications on private phones and email accounts.
Orders, appeals and what’s at stake
Kosseim’s office has issued a legal summons compelling Ryan Amato to be examined under oath about whether he holds additional Greenbelt-related emails on a personal account that have not been handed over. The commissioner also ordered Premier Ford to produce government-related call logs from his personal cell phone, on the basis that records about government business are subject to freedom of information rules.
Both decisions are being challenged. The government sought a judicial review of the Premier’s case and Amato is pursuing his own judicial review. Those challenges will determine the scope of the commissioner’s powers and set precedent for how political staff and leaders manage communications going forward.
Why the commissioner escalated
Kosseim says the move to issue summonses and examine witnesses under oath followed months, and in some cases years, of mediation and resolution attempts that stalled. Her office oversees privacy and transparency laws in Ontario and adjudicates freedom of information appeals.
The cases … are the culmination of months, if not years, of mediation, resolution attempts, and have escalated to the point where we need to use some of these firmer enforcement powers.
Patricia Kosseim, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario
She has emphasised the particular concern when personal emails and devices are used to conduct government-related business, arguing that such practices can be used to circumvent obligations that underpin freedom of information legislation.
We need to ensure that the use of personal emails and devices aren’t used as a way of circumventing those fundamental obligations.
Patricia Kosseim
Kosseim called the rise in use of personal devices for government work a very worrying trend that needs to be addressed quickly, and she said the office is pressing the issue to preserve the principles of access to information.
Government response and privacy concerns
Premier Ford has argued that the commissioner’s order should be set aside or ignored because it risks exposing private citizens’ personal information. He said some calls to his personal phone are private in nature and involve sensitive family situations, and he does not want to break that trust.
Do you want your personal records about your health care and your family and everything else going public? There has to be confidentiality. I get very personal, personal calls about family situations. Very deep, too. And they trust me. So, I’m not going to break their trust; I’m going to make sure they’re confidential.
Premier Doug Ford
At the same time, Ford has acknowledged using his personal phone to discuss matters with industry leaders, private company CEOs, U.S. officials and other Canadian politicians. Those communications are not automatically shielded from public access if they relate to government business.
What the legal fights could change
The court decisions will clarify who must preserve and disclose records, and under what circumstances communications on personal devices qualify as government records. Legal rulings could require stricter record-keeping, greater use of government-issued devices for official business, or clearer policies for retaining and turning over work-related communications on private accounts.
Kosseim said she welcomes judicial clarification. In her view, a clear precedent will guide public officials and staff on proper procedures and help uphold transparency.
It’s a question now in the hands of the court that will clarify for everybody the proper procedures and practices, when it comes to upholding the fundamental principles of transparency and access to information.
Patricia Kosseim
- Whether personal emails and call logs are considered government records subject to disclosure
- How far the commissioner’s powers extend when issuing summonses and examining witnesses under oath
- Potential changes to record-keeping policies for ministers, political staff and the premier’s office
- The precedent the courts set for future access to information requests involving private devices
Lawyers pressing the commissioner’s orders in court have argued the public has a legal right to records about government decisions, even when those records appear on personal devices. Opponents say privacy concerns and trust between private individuals and officials must also be weighed.
The cases will likely be closely watched by journalists, transparency advocates and anyone interested in how modern political communication should be governed.
The court’s rulings will shape how officials document and disclose work-related communications, and they will determine whether the commissioner’s tougher enforcement approach succeeds in curbing the use of personal devices to handle government business.
transparencyPatricia KosseimDoug FordprivacyFreedom of InformationGreenbelt
