Doug Ford Uses Personal Phone for Government Business, Says Government Lawyers
Ontario Government Acknowledges Premier’s Use of Personal Cell Phone for Official Business, Withholds Call Logs Citing Privacy
Government officials in Ontario have confirmed that Premier Doug Ford uses his personal cell phone for government-related matters but are declining to release his phone logs, citing privacy concerns for callers and the complexity of categorizing the nature of the calls.
Canadian News organization Global News has been engaged in a protracted battle for transparency with the Ontario government regarding the Premier’s utilization of his personal cell phone for official taxpayer-related activities and the public’s right to access those records.
Initially, the government refused to grant access to these records, arguing that the Premier’s personal cell phone number falls outside the scope of freedom of information laws. This led to Global News appealing to the province’s Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC).
On September 8, in a subsequent submission to the IPC, government lawyers representing the Cabinet Office acknowledged that Premier Ford does indeed use his private cell phone for a wide range of matters, spanning from personal to political.
The submission stated, “(Cabinet Office) acknowledges that the premier’s personal cell phone number has been made publicly available on occasion and that he uses his personal cell phone.”
The province conceded that since the Premier is essentially “always on-duty,” the calls he receives on his personal device can encompass both family and government-related issues. They explained, “The practical reality is the premier performs many roles and is never fully off-duty. Accordingly, the premier makes and receives calls in his different roles as necessary at all times of the day.”
Government lawyers confirmed that in addition to calls from family and friends, Premier Ford also engages in phone conversations related to his roles as the leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative caucus, a minister, head of the Executive Council and Cabinet, and Premier of Ontario—many of which would involve government business.
However, despite acknowledging that the Premier receives “an overwhelming amount of calls on his personal phone,” the government is still maintaining that the phone logs should remain confidential due to the potential inclusion of constituency matters.
They argue that, in certain instances, callers may be trying to bring issues to the “attention of the premier in his capacity as a member of the Legislative Assembly,” and as such, these calls are not subject to disclosure laws.
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