Ontario's New Transparency Shield
Ottawa and communities across the province are watching closely as the Ford government applies a controversial new legal exemption to block access to the premier's cellphone records — a move critics say guts one of the few tools citizens have to hold elected officials accountable.
Earlier this spring, Queen's Park moved to tighten Ontario's freedom of information framework, introducing near-blanket exemptions covering Premier Doug Ford, cabinet ministers, and all of their political staff. The changes mean that records — including text messages and communications on personal or government-issued devices — can now be withheld far more easily than before.
A recent access request targeting Ford's cellphone was denied under the new provisions, confirming the law is already in effect and being applied.
What Changed — and Why It Matters
Ontario's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act has long been criticized for having too many loopholes, but advocates say the latest amendments make a bad situation significantly worse. Previously, requests for ministerial records had some pathway to disclosure; the new exemptions largely close that door.
For Ottawa residents — home to a significant concentration of federal and provincial public servants who understand the importance of government transparency — the changes carry particular weight. The city has been at the centre of several politically charged moments in recent years, from the convoy occupation to ongoing debates around LRT accountability and housing policy. Access to information tools have been key to how journalists and citizens have tracked those stories.
"When you exempt the people at the top from scrutiny, you're not protecting privacy — you're protecting power," said one open-government advocate familiar with Ontario's FOI landscape. "Cellphones are where decisions get made today. This is a significant step backward."
The Broader Pattern
The cellphone exemption fits a broader pattern critics have identified in the Ford government's approach to transparency. Ontario already ranked among the slower provinces in responding to freedom of information requests even before the amendments. Advocacy groups have flagged rising refusal rates and longer wait times for disclosures across multiple ministries.
Opposition parties at Queen's Park have pushed back hard, arguing the changes were made without meaningful public consultation and disproportionately benefit those already in power. The NDP and Liberals have both called for the amendments to be reversed.
The federal Information Commissioner has separately flagged concerns about a national trend toward weakening access laws — a trend Ontario now appears to be accelerating rather than resisting.
What Comes Next
Legal challenges to the new exemptions are possible, though FOI advocates note that courts have historically given legislatures wide latitude in defining the scope of their own disclosure rules. The more immediate battleground will likely be at the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, where denied requests can be appealed.
For now, Ontarians — including the many in Ottawa who regularly use FOI tools to scrutinize everything from transit contracts to real estate decisions — will need to contend with a narrower window into their government's inner workings.
The full scope of what's now off-limits won't be known until more requests are filed and denied, but the Ford government has made its position clear: the premier's phone is not the public's business.
Source: Global News Ottawa
