Premier Ford’s mandate letters to cabinet ministers can be kept secret: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled Premier Doug Ford’s mandate letters to cabinet ministers can be kept private.

The decision released Friday reverses the lower court rulings.

The case stems from the Ontario government’s decision to deny the CBC’s request under the province’s freedom-of-information law for ministerial mandate letters written after the 2018 election.

A mandate letter tells a cabinet minister what is expected of them, outlining the premier’s priorities for their role.

The Information and Privacy Commissioner disagreed, ordering the government to disclose them, and two levels of Ontario courts also sided with the CBC. However, the Supreme Court ruled that the letters are exempt from public disclosure.

While the outcome was unanimous, one of the justices on the panel of seven who heard the case came to the same conclusion as the majority, but for different reasons.

“Freedom of information (FOI) legislation strikes a balance between the public’s need to know and the confidentiality the executive requires to govern effectively,” Justice Andromache Karakatsanis wrote for the majority. “Both are crucial to the proper functioning of our democracy.”

Ford’s government contends that cabinet confidentiality is fundamental to a system where ministers collectively decide government policy, but the CBC has argued disclosure is key to an informed public and accountable government.

The letters themselves were made public in September after a source provided them to Global News.

The Ford government did not provide any comment following the court’s ruling.

The Canadian Association of Journalists was among those reacting to the ruling, saying they were disappointed, adding “without adequate means to ensure public transparency, how are journalists allowed to hold politicians and public institutions to account?”

In a statement, Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said the “public deserves to know what the premier instructs his ministers to do.”

“If this government were truly ‘for the people,’ this would include being for the people’s right to know what their government is doing. Ontario citizens should be able to trust that their Premier will act in the public’s best interest.”

NDP Leader Marit Stiles said, “Ontarians should not have to fight their government in court for transparency.”

“This is a disappointing ruling that sets a poor precedent for democracy in Ontario. The people of Ontario are entitled to transparency and accountability from their elected officials,” Green Party Leader Mark Schreiner added.

Kathleen Wynne became the first Ontario premier to proactively disclose the letters, in 2014, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and several other premiers following suit.

With files from Irene Preklet