Ontario’s transparency watchdog has issued a fresh order targeting the Ford government’s handling of records surrounding its controversial Greenbelt land removal decision, demanding further clarity on calendar entries marked as “private” by a former senior staffer.
The Information and Privacy Commission (IPC) has directed the provincial government to reach out to Carlo Oliviero, formerly the executive director of stakeholder relations in Premier Doug Ford’s office, and obtain a sworn affidavit about the nature of 34 calendar entries logged as “private” between July and December 2022. That timeframe coincides with the government’s now-reversed decision to remove 7,400 acres of land from the Greenbelt.
The directive comes in response to an appeal from the Ontario NDP, which obtained Oliviero’s government calendar through a freedom of information request and raised concerns that the “private” meetings could have involved Greenbelt-related discussions. One of the events in question reportedly matched the date and time of a Microsoft Teams meeting sent to Oliviero’s personal email account, titled “Winona Lands – East Hamilton – Greenbelt Matters.”
The NDP argued that this overlap strongly suggests the meeting was related to official government business, despite being labelled “private.” While the IPC did not confirm that the meetings were government-related, it acknowledged that the overlap raised “serious concerns” and warranted further inquiry.
The IPC’s adjudicator stated that the Ford government had failed to conduct a thorough search in response to the NDP’s information request, and ordered the administration to secure a sworn affidavit from Oliviero clarifying the purpose of each calendar entry. If any are found to involve official duties, the government must consider releasing the information.
This latest order is part of a wider series of IPC investigations and directives tied to the Greenbelt scandal, which triggered the resignation of two Ontario cabinet ministers and remains under RCMP investigation. Earlier findings by the province’s auditor general and integrity commissioner concluded that the land removal process lacked transparency and disproportionately benefited a small group of developers—estimated to gain over $8 billion.
The broader scandal has been marked by revelations that some political staff used personal email accounts to conduct government business, a practice that critics say was designed to evade public transparency laws.
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles called the IPC’s latest ruling part of a troubling pattern. “Every bit of documentation matters in an investigation like this,” she said. “Staff in the premier’s office knew perfectly well what the rules were, and if they concealed government-related meetings under private labels, they’ve crossed a serious line.”
This is not the first such order from the IPC. In separate ongoing investigations, the Ford government has also been directed to retrieve records from former housing chief of staff Ryan Amato’s personal email account, and to approach several ex-staffers who may still possess relevant materials on their private devices.
Despite repeated requests, neither the premier’s office nor Oliviero has responded to Global News for comment.
With mounting public pressure and more IPC orders pending, the government’s handling of information related to the Greenbelt decision continues to be scrutinized for potential breaches of transparency and accountability.