narduch
Senior Member
Not expecting anything to come of this. Our law enforcement agencies have shown they don't give one shit about Fords' corruption. (if anything they are in on it too).
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Premier Doug Ford's Ontario
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DSCToronto
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I must agree with you that the OPP and RCMP seem to be proceeding VERY slowly with the investigations that they are already supposedly working on but having phone records in the public domain will allow journalists, researchers and even UTers the ability to see exactly who Ford talks to. Yes, many calls will be to his ministers, his family and his constituents but there will likely be a lot to and from his donor base. The police presumably already have all this info, what the court decision was about was whether 'the world' could see them too.
DSCToronto
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This is such a typical 'the world is falling down' response... SEE: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/fo...cle_34fbcbcf-5679-4a37-a322-fa5001603c54.html
No matter how carefully these things are planned, it is a complicated thing to train new drivers and plan new routes and some problems on Day 1 is to be expected. It is even more likely if you make the change on a holiday week when the garbage and recycling collection days are already being moved around to accommodate stat holidays. For what it's worth, our new recycling collection went just fine and as promised.
Mr Ford should just leave things alone and concentrate on more important things - possibly like sorting out Metrolinx!
No matter how carefully these things are planned, it is a complicated thing to train new drivers and plan new routes and some problems on Day 1 is to be expected. It is even more likely if you make the change on a holiday week when the garbage and recycling collection days are already being moved around to accommodate stat holidays. For what it's worth, our new recycling collection went just fine and as promised.
Mr Ford should just leave things alone and concentrate on more important things - possibly like sorting out Metrolinx!
Ours was also picked up at 7 am on the dot as per usual
Monarch Butterfly
Superstar
For Toronto...
Districts 2 and 3: In 2026, garbage and recycling weeks are switching in some locations. The collection day is staying the same. Check your waste collection schedule to make sure you set out materials on the correct week. See https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/recycling-organics-garbage/houses/collection-schedule/2026-curbside-collection-map-schedules/
Doug Ford lives in District 1. No change for him. So no problems for him of course.
lenaitch
Senior Member
Always fun to make allegations without evidence isn't it. I have no clue what stage any police investigation is at, but that's what they started with - allegations. Unless somebody has dropped off a box of documents at their door in the night, in order to obtain evidence, they need search warrants/production orders. In order to obtain search warrants/production orders, they need grounds. In order to establish their grounds, they need to articulate credible and sourced information to a justice.
I can guarantee to you that, at this level, any Information to Obtain (a search warrant or production order) or, if they have progressed to that stage, any intention to lay a charge, will be run past an assigned Crown Attorney from MAG (or lawyer from the Office of Public Prosecutions if the RCMP), who parse every word and will want a case absolutely appeal proof to the Supreme Court. Those 'consultations' can go back and forth multiple times and go on for month, and months.
Not everything that look unethical, dirty or underhanded is illegal.
Now that communications records are public it might make things easier - or not. Strangely, they may still have to obtain judicial authorization to access something that is now in the public domain.
narduch
Senior Member
We already saw this with his brother too. Who should have been charged for his actions.
Doug Ford is hands down the most corrupt politician I've ever seen in Ontario. There is no defending it. Even if you want to use 'procedure' as an excuse.
lenaitch
Senior Member
I think the whole thing has been rolled out rather poorly. I get the sense that the producers, through Circular Materials, the 'producer responsibility organization' created to meet government regulations, is completely unenthusiastic about their new mandate. Consumer information, communication and marketing is just about non-existent. Understandably, most municipalities have washed their hands of recycling; at best providing a link to Circular's website.
As of January 1st, we can now recycle more material, but I found out about that via somebody mentioning it on FB. When I checked Circular's website, what you can recycle is there but very poorly described.
When municipalities were responsible for recycling, at least they had the incentive that the more that was diverted meant a reduced need for landfill space.
Monarch Butterfly
Superstar
Ontario court rules Doug Ford must turn over personal phone records | Globalnews.ca
An Ontario court says it is reasonable to conclude Premier Doug Ford uses his personal cellphone to communicate and that he should make those records public.globalnews.ca
A panel of three judges has thrown out an attempt by the province to stop the release of government calls on Premier Doug Ford’s personal cellphone, agreeing with Ontario’s transparency watchdog that they should be made public.
More than three years ago, Global News filed a freedom of information request seeking access to government-related calls on Ford’s personal phone, a number he regularly publicizes, while his official device is unused.
The request was denied by the government. Global News appealed the decision to the Information and Privacy Commission.
At the tail end of 2024, the IPC issued two rulings siding with the Global News freedom of information request and another similar appeal from an Ontario doctor seeking access to calls made on Ford’s personal cellphone.
The ruling concluded that some of the contents of the call logs on Ford’s personal phone “relate to a department or government business matter” and told the government to begin preparing to release those calls.
The Ford government, however, filed a request for a judicial review, asking an Ontario court to overrule the IPC. Arguments in the judicial review were heard last month, on Dec. 10.
Lawyers for the Ontario government and Doug Ford himself said the landmark decision was a “make-work project” that entertained irrelevant and unreliable evidence.
A lawyer representing the Ontario doctor and another for the IPC said the decision was correct and allowing the premier to “shield” his communications from transparency by using his personal phone would “undermine” democracy in the province.
Less than three weeks after hearing the arguments, the panel of three Ontario judges batted away the government’s request for a judicial review, ruling the IPC’s decision was correct and should stand.
“The conclusion that the Premier used his personal cellphone to conduct Cabinet Office matters is a finding of fact that attracts a high degree of deference,” part of the decision read, released on Dec. 29, read.
“The inference that the Premier used his personal phone for government business was a reasonable inference from other proven facts and the totality of the evidence that was available to the Adjudicator.”
In their 16-page ruling, the panel of three Ontario judges disagreed with arguments from the government and the legal team representing Ford personally.
The decision emphasized the importance of freedom of information laws to ensure transparency and accountability, cautioning against ways in which politicians could change how they communicate to avoid scrutiny.
“It is now widely accepted that access to government information laws are vital tools of democratic practice, contributing to transparency, accountability and meaningful participation in public debate and political decision-making,” the panel wrote.
“The Decisions raise the important question of whether shielding phone logs from a personal cellphone that relate to departmental matters from public access would undermine the purposes of FIPPA”
Ford’s lawyers had argued accessing the personal phone records would be an invasion of privacy.
They said there had “never been an order such as this” from the IPC, arguing the data in the call logs would not offer any information in the public interest, but would instead “invite speculation, gossip and innuendo” and be a “springboard for misinformation.”
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Politics
Ontario court rules Doug Ford must turn over personal phone records
By Isaac Callan & Colin D'Mello Global News
Posted January 5, 2026 6:00 am
5 min read
The call logs of Ontario Premier Doug Ford's private cellphone are one step closer to being released to the public, after the province lost a major transparency battle over the government business conducted on the premier’s personal device. Global News' Queen's Park Bureau Chief Colin D'Mello reports – Jan 13, 2025
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A panel of three judges has thrown out an attempt by the province to stop the release of government calls on Premier Doug Ford’s personal cellphone, agreeing with Ontario’s transparency watchdog that they should be made public.
More than three years ago, Global News filed a freedom of information request seeking access to government-related calls on Ford’s personal phone, a number he regularly publicizes, while his official device is unused.
The request was denied by the government. Global News appealed the decision to the Information and Privacy Commission.
At the tail end of 2024, the IPC issued two rulings siding with the Global News freedom of information request and another similar appeal from an Ontario doctor seeking access to calls made on Ford’s personal cellphone.
The ruling concluded that some of the contents of the call logs on Ford’s personal phone “relate to a department or government business matter” and told the government to begin preparing to release those calls.
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The Ford government, however, filed a request for a judicial review, asking an Ontario court to overrule the IPC. Arguments in the judicial review were heard last month, on Dec. 10.
Lawyers for the Ontario government and Doug Ford himself said the landmark decision was a “make-work project” that entertained irrelevant and unreliable evidence.
A lawyer representing the Ontario doctor and another for the IPC said the decision was correct and allowing the premier to “shield” his communications from transparency by using his personal phone would “undermine” democracy in the province.
Less than three weeks after hearing the arguments, the panel of three Ontario judges batted away the government’s request for a judicial review, ruling the IPC’s decision was correct and should stand.
“The conclusion that the Premier used his personal cellphone to conduct Cabinet Office matters is a finding of fact that attracts a high degree of deference,” part of the decision read, released on Dec. 29, read.
“The inference that the Premier used his personal phone for government business was a reasonable inference from other proven facts and the totality of the evidence that was available to the Adjudicator.”
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The premier’s office said it is “seeking leave” to appeal the decision.
Click to play video: 'Doug Ford weighs in on battle to keep his cellphone records secret'
2:58
Doug Ford weighs in on battle to keep his cellphone records secret
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The purpose of transparency laws
In their 16-page ruling, the panel of three Ontario judges disagreed with arguments from the government and the legal team representing Ford personally.
The decision emphasized the importance of freedom of information laws to ensure transparency and accountability, cautioning against ways in which politicians could change how they communicate to avoid scrutiny.
“It is now widely accepted that access to government information laws are vital tools of democratic practice, contributing to transparency, accountability and meaningful participation in public debate and political decision-making,” the panel wrote.
“The Decisions raise the important question of whether shielding phone logs from a personal cellphone that relate to departmental matters from public access would undermine the purposes of FIPPA”
Ford’s lawyers had argued accessing the personal phone records would be an invasion of privacy.
They said there had “never been an order such as this” from the IPC, arguing the data in the call logs would not offer any information in the public interest, but would instead “invite speculation, gossip and innuendo” and be a “springboard for misinformation.”
The judges disagreed, saying the IPC’s 2024 decision had established a “coherent and rational connection” between the evidence presented and the conclusion Ford uses his personal phone for government business.
“The Decisions are transparent, intelligible and justified,” the judges’ ruling said. “There is no basis on which this court should intervene.”
The panel pointed out Ford had chosen not to submit an affidavit swearing he does not use his personal phone for government business, a relatively common practice in IPC appeals.
“In many of the other IPC cases cited by the AG and the Premier, the government respondent submitted an affidavit,” the decision said. “The Premier was not required to submit an affidavit, but he clearly knew the case to meet.”
During the appeal and the judicial review, representatives of the government and the premier argued it would be impossible and unreasonable to go through years-old call logs to work out who Ford may have spoken to in previous years.
lenaitch
Senior Member
Fine. Then exercise you mandate the next chance you get. I'm not making an excuse; maybe he is criminally guilty as sin. I'm just outlining the process and hurdles. I was involved in two 'public official integrity' investigations in my career (not at this level) and the unit I was with did several more in my time. An alternative would be to railroad him and have the charges tossed for want of evidence (beyond a reasonable doubt - remember that little chestnut?), bad 'procedure' or the Crown to stay charges because of no reasonable prospect of conviction. Which would be better? You only get one shot.
Monarch Butterfly
Superstar
Monarch Butterfly
Superstar
Can see Doug changing his phone number.
zang
Senior Member
It wouldn't be the first time.
Ford cancels personal cell phone after receiving hate mail and inappropriate images
The decision to disconnect Premier Doug Ford’s personal cell phone number came after Ford received “hundreds” of text messages from a single Montreal-based phone number, according to the Premier’s Office, making the phone unusable.
www.ctvnews.ca
Monarch Butterfly
Superstar
zang
Senior Member
Aside from dodging the question of (any) reprimand of the stunt-driving employee themselves, I love how a simple change in blanket "infrastructure" is going to "eliminate speeding" entirely.
On what planet does this soggy lump of wonder bread live?