Ontario’s transparency watchdog says the Ford government’s use of personal emails and codewords when it removed land from the Greenbelt provides a “cautionary tale” on the importance of transparency, in a report lambasting it for poor record-keeping.

On Thursday, the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s office released a report summarizing the results of a number of freedom of information appeals over Greenbelt decisions and communications.

Taken together, the appeals show the government violated “legal record-keeping obligations,” the report said, adding that the incidents “erode public trust in the integrity of government decision making.”

The report found the government had used “opaque codewords” to refer to discussions about the Greenbelt, something that “weakens transparency.”

It also expressed surprise at the lack of records showing who made the decision to remove 7,400 acres of protected land from the Greenbelt and what considerations went into it.

That land removal decision was announced in November 2022 and met with fierce backlash.

It sparked investigations from the auditor general and integrity commissioner and led to resignations of ministers and senior staff, before it was eventually reversed less than a year later.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford apologized when he walked back the decision, which the auditor general said would have benefited certain developers to the tune of more than $8 billion.

Almost two years later, the IPC said a lack of records and poorly managed transparency practices have left many questions unanswered.

“When records are lost, destroyed, obfuscated, or never created in the first place, it raises more questions than answers,” the information and privacy commissioner’s report said.

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The report covered questions about deleted emails, setting out the steps taken to try and recover emails that had been destroyed.

“The adjudicator was satisfied with the measures taken despite the technical limitations of recovering any permanently deleted emails,” one line said.

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the potential deletion of emails required further investigation.

“Deleting government records is illegal. The last time this happened; someone went to jail,” she said in a statement.

“When will the Premier finally answer for the disturbing culture of dodging accountability and disappearing records within this government?”

Commissioner Patricia Kosseim told Global News she was satisfied with the government’s response and had not referred her findings to anyone, but confirmed emails were deleted permanently.

“We were preemptorily ordering the government to preserve all records and to recover emails that had been deleted, which they were able to and did and have since preserved all the records, except — as I said — those that were permanently deleted,” she said.

“We have no way of knowing the circumstances around that.”

The transparency watchdog also issued a number of orders telling staff to search their personal email accounts — and for the premier to search his personal cellphone — due to “credible evidence” they had been used to make government decisions and avoid access to information requests.

The report found the government had demonstrated a “poor level of commitment” to managing its records properly.

“The IPC’s findings in these appeals highlight the urgent need for stronger records management practices, regular staff training, clear policies prohibiting the use of personal email accounts and devices for conducting government business, and a clearly articulated, unwavering commitment to transparency and public accountability,” an extract said.

“Without a full and accurate record of decision-making, the public is left in the dark about government actions that affect their communities and the environment.”

An investigation by the RCMP into the Greenbelt decision is still ongoing.

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said he hoped the findings in the report would “inform” investigators working on the case, which has been underway since October 2023.

“I am also hoping that the IPC report helps inform the RCMP investigation because it just proves, by an independent officer of the legislation, the lengths to which the Ford government has gone to try and cover this up and hide this scandal from the public.”

The report added that the government had taken steps since the Greenbelt scandal that “signal positive movement towards compliance,” stressing that “oversight remains essential.”

A spokesperson for the premier’s office said they would work to ensure lessons were learned.

“We will continue to comply with our obligations under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Archives and Recordkeeping Act,” they wrote in a statement.

“As the Commissioner lays out in this report, the government has taken a number of positive steps to strengthen record-keeping practices.”

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