Doug Ford loses transparency fight to block release of personal cell phone records [Video]

The call logs of Ontario Premier Doug Ford‘s private cellphone are one step closer to being released to the public, Global News can reveal, after the province lost a major transparency battle over the government business conducted on the premier’s personal device.

Ontario’s information and privacy commissioner (IPC), who serves as the province’s transparency watchdog, has ordered civil servants to officially access Ford’s personal cellphone records and release details of calls he has made and received in his capacity as premier.

In its ruling, the IPC determined that Ford had used his personal phone for government work and, as a result, said his phone records constitute public documents that could be published.

The decision also caps off a two-year transparency battle with the Ford government over how Premier Ford conducts government business using a personal device after Global News sought to access those records using freedom of information laws.

During the protracted adjudication process, the government initially claimed …