The Supreme Court of Canada has decided that Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s mandate letters to his cabinet members are exempt from the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). This decision came after a journalist from the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) had his request for the mandate letters denied in the aftermath of the 2018 elections.
Mandate letters are correspondence that outline the objectives and goals for ministers during their upcoming terms. Making these letters public has become somewhat of a custom in the name of transparency. Despite this trend, the court unanimously agreed that Section 12(1) of FIPPA, which exempts “substance of deliberations,” shields these mandate letters from public scrutiny. Justice Karakatsanis highlighted in her ruling that such letters may be too revealing of Cabinet deliberations and stated that ‘Cabinet confidentiality promotes collective ministerial accountability to the legislature and affords the executive the space it needs to function effectively.’
The court further concluded that forming a policy should be a confidential process, allowing room for internal debate before a more formal policy is announced to the public. Lawyers representing CBC and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) opposed the court’s interpretation of the “substance of deliberations” exemption. They argued for a narrower interpretation, limiting the exemption to exclude names of those making policy suggestions.
This case draws attention as Ford faces allegations of involvement in the Greenbelt scandal. As the world’s largest stretch of protected land, the Greenbelt has been at the centre of controversy with Ford and Ontario’s Housing Minister accused of allegedly removing land parcels to favor developers. Read more about the Greenbelt scandal here. For more details about the court’s decision, you can follow this link.