TORONTO — Ontario’s Divisional Court has dismissed an application by the Attorney General of Ontario to overturn two Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) orders that said the Cabinet Office controls portions of Premier Doug Ford’s personal cellphone call logs—when those entries relate to government or departmental matters.
In Ontario (AG) v. Ontario (Information and Privacy Commissioner), 2025 ONSC 7099, released Dec. 29, 2025, a three-judge panel (Backhouse, Lococo and Kaufman JJ.) upheld IPC Final Orders PO-4576-F and PO-4577-F from Nov. 29, 2024. The court found the IPC’s decisions were reasonable and declined to intervene.
The case stems from access-to-information requests made under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) by political scientist Dr. Brooks Fallis and an unnamed journalist.
They initially sought call-log records for Ford’s official government cellphone for specific periods in late 2020 and early 2021, and Oct. 31 to Nov. 6, 2022 — including caller names and numbers, and the time and duration of calls.
Cabinet Office released invoices for the premier’s official phone for several months, but they showed no phone call activity. Cabinet Office confirmed there were no calls made on the government-issued device during the periods requested.
The requesters then sought call logs tied to Ford’s personal cellphone number, arguing the invoices suggested he used another phone for government-related calls.
Cabinet Office denied the requests, arguing the personal call logs were not in its physical possession, that claims about government business on the personal phone were speculative, and that there was a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Ford supported the position, describing the request as an unjustified invasion of privacy and arguing the Premier’s office is not an “institution” under FIPPA, with constituency and personal matters outside Cabinet Office’s scope.
