The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed that Doug Ford's cabinet directives must remain secret

The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed with the Ontario government that Prime Minister Doug Ford's directive letters to the cabinet are exempt from freedom of information laws.
The Supreme Court of Canada ruling was published this morning.
The case was heard by a seven-member panel in April. The court concluded that the directive letters "reflect the Prime Minister's view of the importance of specific policy priorities and indicate the beginning of a fluid process of policy formulation within the Cabinet."
"The letters reveal the content of cabinet deliberations," they concluded.
   The ruling comes after a six-year battle between the CBC and the Progressive Conservative government.
In 2018, after Ford was first elected prime minister, the CBC requested 23 letters under the Freedom of Information Act, but was denied, citing the government's cabinet exemptions. They argued that the public release of the letters would reveal the content of the talks between the prime minister and his cabinet.
The media petitioned the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario to order the release of the letters.
In subsequent appeals, two more provincial courts have rejected the government's case, with one judge arguing that the letters "do not threaten to reveal the Cabinet's deliberation process or its policy-making."



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