Stiles welcomes IPC decision on Doug Ford’s personal phone records

WINDSOR — Marit Stiles, Leader of the Official Opposition NDP, released the following statement in response to the Information & Privacy Commissioner’s ruling that details about Doug Ford’s use of a personal phone to conduct government business will be made available to the public:

“Today is a step towards transparency and accountability in Ontario,” said Stiles. “We have seen this government use every trick in the book to keep things hidden from the public – from secret code words to “accidental” data wipes . Today’s IPC decision means there’s one less place for them to hide.”

“People in Ontario deserve better than a Premier that doesn’t want you to know who he’s talking to or what he’s saying. Doug Ford likes to say his personal phone is open to anyone – but it’s just another way to for him to give preferential treatment to powerful lobbyists and personal friends.”

Quick Facts:

• Records show that Ford’s government-issued phone goes unused for months at a time, while he’s known to frequently advertise his personal device
• New Democrats put forward a motion calling on Ford to release his personal phone records while government lawyers fought to keep them hidden
• The phone of Ford’s Chief of Staff was mysteriously reset without a back-up, destroying months of messages related to government business
• The Ford government is under RCMP investigation for the Greenbelt scandal, during which staffers used the code word “G*”, obscuring messages from Freedom of Information requests