Updated April 23, 2026 @ 4:23pm
Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government passed legislation Thursday that makes the records of the premier, cabinet ministers and their staff secret, after refusing to hold public hearings and speeding through a late-night sitting.
Ford has admitted that part of the rationale for the clampdown is to kill a request from Global News to obtain his cellphone records.
The law will be retroactive to 1988 and therefore nullify current requests, even those made years ago.
NDP Marit Stiles said it's shameful the government used the budget bill as a vehicle for covering up Ford's cellphone records, which a court has ordered him to release.
"What this means is that he's going to be able to hide all the secrets away from the people of Ontario," she said.
Ford and his ministers have cited a need for protecting cabinet confidentiality, which already exists under the prior freedom-of-information law. He has also said disclosing his cellphone records would divulge personal information of constituents who call or text him, though that is protected by existing privacy laws.
Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy touted the fact that the government held various consultation sessions before tabling the budget, but could not say if any members of the public asked for changes that would make freedom-of-information laws more restrictive.
"We're not taking people's rights," he said. "You folks will have lots of access. You have lots of tools that will continue. We'll continue to debate bills in the house."
The government scheduled a late-night sitting Wednesday for the third and final reading of the bill. That came after it skipped the committee stage, when affected groups and members of the public have a chance to weigh in, and committee members from the government and opposition can propose and debate amendments.
The budget bill not only enacts measures such as a small business tax cut and includes the more restrictive FOI law, but it also merges the province's conservation authorities, paves the way for redevelopment of a lot outside the Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto, and caps resale ticket prices.
Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said burying freedom-of-information changes in a budget bill then fast-tracking that legislation does not project confidence in it.
"It's clear the government knows that even their own voters are outraged about them changing the FOI laws so the people of Ontario do not have access to honest, transparent and accountable government," he said.
"People deserve to know how government makes decisions, how their tax dollars are being used, and this premier has clearly forgotten that he works for the people of Ontario."
Interim Liberal leader John Fraser said what Ford has done to avoid disclosing his phone records amounts to a cover-up of a cover-up.
"By lunchtime today, it will be law, and it will be retroactive," Fraser said in the legislature. "I know you know what that means, premier. Retroactive. They're changing the laws retroactively. So there must be something really, really, really bad on your cellphone. What is it?"
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2026.
