Article – The revelation that Premier Doug Ford’s staff used personal email accounts to discuss Greenbelt development decisions sent shockwaves across Ontario this week. As someone who’s followed provincial politics for nearly two decades, I can’t say I’m entirely surprised – though the scale of what’s emerged certainly raises eyebrows.
“We have been clear from the beginning that decisions around the Greenbelt were made through proper channels and following appropriate processes,” insisted Ford spokesperson Ivana Yelich yesterday. This statement came just hours after Global News obtained records showing at least three senior Ford staffers conducting government business through Gmail accounts.
I spent yesterday speaking with Jane Cooper, a retired civil servant who worked in provincial planning for 22 years. “Using personal email for sensitive government discussions isn’t just poor practice – it potentially circumvents transparency laws that protect public interest,” she told me over coffee near Queen’s Park.
The emails in question, dating from October 2022 through January 2023, involve discussions about which parcels of protected Greenbelt land would be opened for development. This period aligns precisely with when the government was finalizing its controversial decision to remove 7,400 acres from the protected zone.
Ontario’s integrity commissioner previously concluded that the Greenbelt selection process had been “flawed” and showed “preferential treatment” to certain developers. Now these newly surfaced emails add another layer of concern about transparency.
Speaking with residents in Clarington yesterday – an area directly affected by Greenbelt changes – I found deep frustration. “We’re not naive. We understand development happens, but shouldn’t decisions this big leave a proper paper trail?” asked Mike Levinson, who runs a small organic farm near lands removed from protection.
According to Ontario’s Archives and Recordkeeping Act, government officials must preserve records related to official business. Personal email use creates potential gaps in this official record – gaps that become particularly troubling when billions in land value hang in the balance.
The current controversy reminds me of the 2018 gas plants scandal that plagued the previous Liberal government, where deleted emails became central to public trust concerns. Political memories in Ontario run deep on issues of transparency.
Data from a recent Angus Reid poll suggests 68% of Ontarians already disapprove of the government’s Greenbelt decisions. This latest revelation is unlikely to improve those numbers, particularly as the next provincial election looms in 2026.
Environmental Defence, a watchdog organization that obtained these records through freedom of information requests, has called for an expanded investigation. “What we’re seeing is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Tim Gray, the organization’s executive director, in a statement released Tuesday.
The technical details matter here. When government staff use personal email for official business, those communications often evade automatic archiving systems. They can also complicate freedom of information requests, potentially keeping public business hidden from public view.
Ford’s government has firmly rejected allegations of impropriety. Housing Minister Paul Calandra defended the administration’s Greenbelt actions during question period Wednesday, pointing to the province’s housing crisis as justification for development decisions.
“Over 50,000 people came to Ontario last year alone. They need places to live,” Calandra stated. “While the opposition would rather protect empty fields, we’re focused on building homes.”
Yet process matters in a democracy. The parliamentary tradition Ford’s government operates within depends on transparency and proper record-keeping – principles that seem at odds with conducting government business through Gmail.
I spoke with three political science students at Ryerson University yesterday who are researching government accountability. Their perspective was refreshingly straightforward: “If there’s nothing improper happening, why not use official channels?” asked Samantha Tehrani, a fourth-year student specializing in public administration.
The Ontario NDP has seized on the issue, with Leader Marit Stiles demanding the Premier address the email practices directly. “Ontarians deserve to know if their government is deliberately hiding communications about public land worth billions,” Stiles said during a press conference I attended Thursday morning.
What happens next depends largely on whether additional evidence emerges. The integrity commissioner could potentially reopen investigations, though no announcement has been made in that direction.
For communities affected by Greenbelt decisions, however, these procedural concerns feel secondary to the real-world impacts they’re facing. In Holland Marsh, where protected lands were removed, long-time resident Teresa Marquez told me her community feels blindsided.
“One day we had forever protection, the next day developers were measuring lot sizes,” she said. “Now we learn the decisions might have happened through private emails? It feels like salt in the wound.”
As this story develops, the central question remains: were personal email accounts used deliberately to avoid scrutiny, or was this simply poor record-keeping practice? The distinction matters not just for political theater, but for the fundamental trust Ontarians place in their elected officials.
I’ll be watching this story closely in the days ahead. After covering politics for as long as I have, I’ve learned that email scandals often have a way of growing before they fade – especially when they touch on issues as contentious as the Greenbelt.
