Ontario's Premier Accountability Dashboard · Queen's Park Watch

59
Documented Scandals
>$46B
Documented Shortfall
~$1T+
Total Obligations
$12.6B
Yearly Provincial Deficit

Doug's Friends & Accomplices

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Michael Parsa
Director

Michael Parsa

Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services

Brian Porter
Beneficiary

Brian Porter

Building Ontario Fund

Ryan Roebuck
Beneficiary

Ryan Roebuck

High Art Capital

Richard Lyall
Lobbyist

Richard Lyall

Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON)

Martha George
Director

Martha George

Conestoga College (Board of Governors, former Chair)

Nolan Quinn
Beneficiary

Nolan Quinn

Ontario Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security

Linda Franklin
Beneficiary

Linda Franklin

Conestoga College (Administrator)

John Tibbits
Director

John Tibbits

Conestoga College

Joseph Mancinelli
Director

Joseph Mancinelli

LiUNA Pension Fund of Central and Eastern Canada

Jaime McKenna
Director

Jaime McKenna

Fengate Asset Management

Robert Sabato
Director

Robert Sabato

Craft Development Corporation

Matthew Castelli
Beneficiary

Matthew Castelli

Kingsmen Group Inc.

Cathryn Motherwell
Director

Cathryn Motherwell

Office of the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario

Terence Hubbard
Director

Terence Hubbard

Impact Assessment Agency of Canada

RJ Steenstra
Beneficiary

RJ Steenstra

Toronto Port Authority

Documented Scandals

2026

May 7, 2026

Conestoga College Executive Mismanagement — Lavish Spending, Illegal Severance, and a Provincial Takeover

Conestoga College's board approved a 55% salary hike for its president — pushing his pay to $636,000 — then handed him a $3 million exit package that was more than twice the legal limit. A provincial audit found a pattern of lavish spending including a $23,000 Italy trip for executives; on May 7, 2026, Ontario fired the entire board and appointed an administrator — the first time this has ever happened to an Ontario college.

2 legal actions
May 7, 2026 — Province Fires Conestoga Board, Appoints Administrator
May 7, 2026 — Bill 110 passes second reading on division; referred to Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy
May 5, 2026 — Ford pledges Little Norway Park 'won't be touched' — no amendment to the bill tabled
May 4, 2026 — Bill 110 second reading debate begins — NDP delivers 90 minutes of opposition speeches warning of health, safety, and real estate concerns
May 1, 2026 — Conservation authority consolidation begins — 36 authorities start merging into 9 mega-regions
Apr 24, 2026 — Toronto City Council votes to pursue legal action, requests federal government disallow provincial land grab

Apr 23, 2026

Billy Bishop Airport: Little Norway Park Land Grab

Doug Ford's government introduced Bill 110 to seize all of Little Norway Park — a children's playground and waterfront green space beside two schools and a daycare — to expand Billy Bishop Airport into a jet hub, with no plan, no environmental assessment, and no guarantee the park won't become a parking lot.

4 legal actions
Apr 23, 2026 — Bill 97 passes Third Reading — "carried on division" — FIPPA exemptions for Premier and all cabinet ministers now law, pending royal assent
Apr 23, 2026 — 38 years of FOI access rights retroactively voided — Premier Ford's personal cellphone records, Greenbelt emails, and Skills Development Fund records all permanently shielded
Apr 23, 2026 — Bill 110 tabled — lists all of Little Norway Park and almost all city-owned Toronto Islands in expropriation schedule
Apr 22, 2026 — Ontario Liberals: Ford government trying to "ram through the end of Freedom of Information while Ontarians sleep"
Apr 22, 2026 — Mike Schreiner (Green Party): Ford government "called a late-night debate to ram the bill through while nobody was watching"
Apr 22, 2026 — Ford government schedules rare late-night sitting until midnight to debate Bill 97 FOI immunity provisions — final sitting before constituency week break
Apr 21, 2026 — Bill 97 committee referral discharged — ordered for Third Reading with zero public hearings held on FOI immunity provisions
Apr 21, 2026 — Kerzner apologizes "unreservedly" in legislature after FOI documents prove inmates were missing for months; 6 still at large; Stiles says Kerzner "lied to the people"; Fraser calls for resignation
Apr 21, 2026 — NDP publishes names of all 58 Conservative MPPs who voted against protecting consumers from surveillance pricing

Apr 20, 2026

Wasaga Beach Selloff — Ford Strips Provincial Park to Build Hotel on Endangered Bird's Last Habitat

Doug Ford's government sold off 60% of Wasaga Beach Provincial Park — overriding 98% public opposition via an omnibus budget bill — while Bill 5 stripped the last provincial protections from Ontario's most important Piping Plover breeding site. When the Town began mechanically raking critical nesting habitat in April 2026 just days before the endangered birds return, Ecojustice filed a Federal Court lawsuit warning that failure to act will result in the species' extirpation from Ontario.

2 legal actions
Apr 20, 2026 — Sobeys announces $51M electronic shelf label rollout across 300–350 Ontario stores — the infrastructure for real-time algorithmic pricing
Apr 20, 2026 — Ontario legislature votes 58-35 against NDP motion to ban surveillance pricing — Ford and 20 other Conservative MPPs don't show up
Apr 20, 2026 — Ecojustice warns: failure to issue emergency order "very likely to result in the extirpation of the species from Ontario"
Apr 20, 2026 — Ecojustice files Federal Court lawsuit against federal minister and Town of Wasaga Beach under Species at Risk Act
Apr 19, 2026 — Financial cost of Gravy Plane reversal — cancellation penalties, storage costs, potential resale loss — not disclosed by Ford government
Apr 19, 2026 — Ford reverses Gravy Plane purchase after 48-hour backlash; announces province will sell the jet "as quickly as possible"

Apr 17, 2026

Ford's Gravy Plane — $28.9M Jet Bought Without Competitive Tender

Doug Ford spent $28.9 million in taxpayer money on a private jet — then reversed the decision 48 hours later after a public backlash, announcing the province would sell the aircraft "as quickly as possible." Ford made no reference to his 2019 boast that he was the only premier in history to refuse a government plane, and the financial cost of the reversal — including any cancellation penalties or resale loss — has not been disclosed.

Apr 17, 2026 — All three opposition parties and Canadian Taxpayers Federation condemn Ford's Gravy Plane purchase
Apr 17, 2026 — Global News: Bill 97 would permanently hide details of government decisions — including who advised the $29M private jet purchase — from public FOI access
Apr 17, 2026 — Ontario confirms $28.9M Bombardier Challenger 650 purchase without competitive tender — dubbed the "Gravy Plane"
Apr 17, 2026 — Ford government tables time allocation motion cancelling all public committee hearings on Bill 97 FOI immunity changes

Apr 16, 2026

Ontario Jails Crisis: Inmates Freed by Government Errors, Minister Lied About It

Over 157 inmates were improperly released from Ontario's dangerously overcrowded provincial jails between 2021 and 2025 — six remain at large as of April 2026. Solicitor General Michael Kerzner told the legislature they were all caught "instantaneously." Global News FOI documents proved that was false. Kerzner apologized "unreservedly." At the same Maplehurst facility running at 175% capacity, correctional officers zip-tied 200 inmates in their underwear for two days — and a judge stayed first-degree murder charges as a result.

2 legal actions

Apr 16, 2026

Ford Won't Protect Ontario Shoppers From Grocery Surveillance Pricing

As grocery giants install AI-powered pricing systems that charge different customers different prices for the same food, Doug Ford told Ontarians he won't ban it — calling regulation "socialism" the same week his caucus voted down a consumer protection motion, while lobbyists for Loblaws enjoy direct access to his government.

2 legal actions
Apr 16, 2026 — Ford refuses to ban surveillance pricing: "I believe in a capitalist society. Free market. The other one is socialism"
Apr 16, 2026 — Global News FOI reveals 157 Ontario inmates improperly released 2021–2025; Solicitor General Kerzner tells legislature 6+ times all were caught "instantaneously"

Apr 13, 2026

Ontario School Board Corporatization

The Ford government has tabled Bill 101 — the Putting Student Achievement First Act — replacing elected directors of education with CEOs requiring business credentials, gutting trustees' budget and bargaining powers, and mandating government-approved lesson plans in every classroom, while education unions warn it is a roadmap to corporate control of Ontario's public schools.

Apr 13, 2026

CityNews Fires Queen's Park Reporter After Ford Government Coverage

CityNews Queen's Park reporter Tina Yazdani was fired without explanation in April 2026 — days after a confrontational on-camera exchange with Education Minister Paul Calandra, and after at least two of her Ford government stories were quietly deleted from the Rogers-owned network's website in apparent violation of Rogers' own editorial standards.

Apr 13, 2026 — Town of Wasaga Beach begins mechanical raking of Piping Plover critical nesting habitat on Beach Area 1 ahead of bird return
Apr 13, 2026 — ETFO rejects Bill 101 as "an unprecedented rollback of local democracy"; warns of privatization agenda
Apr 13, 2026 — OSSTF condemns CEO structure as "troubling corporatization"; cites unaddressed underfunding crisis
Apr 13, 2026 — Federal NDP moves unanimous-consent motion to ban surveillance pricing at the House of Commons — defeated
Apr 13, 2026 — Bill 101 (Putting Student Achievement First Act, 2026) tabled — CEOs replace directors, trustees capped at 12, bargaining stripped
Apr 13, 2026 — Policorner publishes "The firing CityNews won't explain" — first investigative report on story removals
Apr 13, 2026 — Tina Yazdani announces firing from CityNews via X; Rogers refuses to explain
Apr 10, 2026 — Calandra teases "a few more sleeps" until legislation unveiled; announces teacher college reform simultaneously
Apr 8, 2026 — Global News reveals Ford government launched 19 forensic audits over 5 years — OPP confirms second investigation into SDF recipient charity ($12.7M)
Apr 8, 2026 — Five major conservation organizations call on federal ministers to invoke Species at Risk Act to fill provincial protection gap
Apr 8, 2026 — Environmental groups file second constitutional challenge targeting Special Economic Zones Act specifically
Apr 8, 2026 — Ecojustice files constitutional challenge targeting Bill 5 Special Economic Zones Act on behalf of Wildlands League, Environmental Defence, Friends of the Earth, Democracy Watch
Apr 8, 2026 — Environmental groups file constitutional challenge against Bill 5's Special Economic Zones Act — argues cabinet cannot suspend laws by decree
Apr 7, 2026 — Ford apologizes for "hat in hand" comments after Ontario Regional Chief calls remarks "dangerous" and NDP's Sol Mamakwa calls them racist
Apr 7, 2026 — Six Municipalities Pause Green Standard Programs Over Bill 98
Apr 7, 2026 — Ford apologizes for telling First Nations they can't "keep coming hat in hand" — Ontario Regional Chief calls remarks dangerous, NDP's Sol Mamakwa calls them racist

Apr 2, 2026

Better Regional Governance Act — Ford Appoints Unelected Chairs, Slashes Regional Councils

On April 2, 2026, Doug Ford introduced Bill 100, giving his Minister of Municipal Affairs power to directly appoint regional chairs across eight Ontario regions — unelected officials who will have the power to hire and fire senior staff, veto bylaws, and set budgets. Niagara's council would be slashed from 32 to 13 seats. Opposition MPPs called it a continuation of Ford's pattern of replacing elected local democracy with provincial Conservative loyalists.

1 bills
Apr 2, 2026 — Bill 97 passes second reading on a closure motion — "carried on division" and referred to committee
Apr 2, 2026 — Ford introduces Bill 100 — minister to appoint regional chairs across 8 regions with power to fire staff, veto bylaws, and control budgets
Apr 1, 2026 — Federal government misses March 1 deadline for Piping Plover emergency order; Town has not acted on habitat protection demands
Apr 1, 2026 — Federal compliance deadline passes — Ontario non-compliant; patients still paying $70–$90/visit at private NP clinics
Apr 1, 2026 — Environmental Groups and Architects Sound the Alarm on Bill 98
Apr 1, 2026 — $15M federal-provincial agreement announced for Runnymede PTSI Centre of Excellence — during Kara Ford's tenure as Director
Mar 31, 2026 — $10/day child care deadline passes — Ontario still at $19/day with no plan to reduce further
Mar 31, 2026 — Legally mandated Greenbelt Act decennial review is more than a year overdue — Greenbelt Council down to one member as Ford lets all other appointments expire

Mar 30, 2026

Bill 98: Ford Moves to Strip Municipal Green Building Standards

Ford's Bill 98 would permanently strip Ontario municipalities of the power to require EV charging, tree canopy, bird-friendly glass, and energy standards from developers — handing a legislative victory to RESCON, the industry lobby already suing Toronto in court over the same rules. Cities have already frozen new green standard programs in anticipation.

1 legal actions
Mar 30, 2026 — Bill 98 Tabled — Municipalities Would Lose Green Building Authority
Mar 30, 2026 — Endangered Species Act officially dead — 42 aquatic species and 18 migratory birds handed to federal backstop that covers under 5% of most species' range
Mar 30, 2026 — Ontario's Endangered Species Act formally repealed — Species Conservation Act takes effect, 106 species lose provincial recognition
Mar 27, 2026 — Globe and Mail reports Ontario seeking private-sector general partner to run $4 billion investment fund

Mar 26, 2026

Protect Ontario Fund Bait-and-Switch: $4 Billion in Tariff Relief Redirected to Private Investment Manager

Ontario promised $5 billion to protect workers and businesses from U.S. tariffs — then quietly redirected $4 billion of it into a privately managed investment fund with no named manager, no public accountability framework, and no commitment that the money will reach the tariff-hit workers it was meant for.

Mar 26, 2026 — 2026 Ontario Budget: $4 billion in tariff relief reserve redirected to Protect Ontario Account Investment Fund managed by unnamed private partner
Mar 26, 2026 — Yazdani's last on-air appearance: Ford budget coverage on CityNews
Mar 26, 2026 — At least two Yazdani stories about Ford government quietly deleted from CityNews website without explanation
Mar 26, 2026 — NDP gives 2026 budget a failing grade; OFL warns Protect Ontario fund lacks clear public accountability mechanisms
Mar 25, 2026 — Jones says Ontario committed to compliance by April 1, 2027 — one day before federal financial penalties begin
Mar 25, 2026 — CityNews airs Yazdani story on Education Minister Calandra's school board memo — confrontational on-camera exchange
Mar 24, 2026 — IPC Patricia Kosseim publicly fact-checks Ford's three FIPPA justifications as factually incorrect

Mar 23, 2026

Billy Bishop Airport Seizure

Doug Ford is using Bill 5's Special Economic Zone powers to seize the City of Toronto's land at Billy Bishop Airport and force through a jet expansion banned by the 1983 tripartite agreement — bypassing municipal consent, blocking thousands of planned Portlands homes, and benefiting a private terminal owner whose lobbyist is a former senior Ford aide.

1 legal actions

Mar 23, 2026

Ontario's Plan to Eliminate Elected School Board Trustees

Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra is preparing legislation to abolish elected trustees across English public school boards — eliminating a century of local democratic governance — after spending a year seizing 8 of Ontario's largest boards under "public interest" powers his own government wrote into law.

1 legal actions
Mar 23, 2026 — Ford declares Billy Bishop Ontario's first Special Economic Zone; announces seizure of City of Toronto land stake
Mar 23, 2026 — Calandra promises "significant change" to school board governance; confirms no notwithstanding clause needed
Mar 23, 2026 — Province declares Billy Bishop a Special Economic Zone, announces seizure of City of Toronto land
Mar 23, 2026 — Ford declares Billy Bishop a Special Economic Zone; seizes City of Toronto land for jet-capable runway
Mar 23, 2026 — Calandra promises "significant change" to school board governance; confirms legislation is coming
Mar 22, 2026 — Two Canadian pilots killed at LaGuardia in runway collision — Ford announces Billy Bishop expansion hours later

Mar 20, 2026

The School Lands Sell-Off

The Ford government passed legislation giving the Minister of Education power to force school boards to sell public land to private developers, then used manufactured financial crises to take over six school boards — handing control of an estimated $60 billion in public land to provincial-appointed supervisors with real estate backgrounds and no education experience.

Mar 20, 2026

Ontario's Nurse Practitioner Funding Delay

Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones spent 2024 demanding Ottawa close a loophole that let private clinics charge patients for nurse practitioner care — then refused to implement the fix once the federal government delivered it, leaving Ontarians paying $70–$90 per appointment for services that should be publicly funded.

Mar 20, 2026

The Ticket Scalping Reversal

Ford killed Ontario's anti-scalping price cap in 2019, calling it "unenforceable" — then seven years later announced a stricter version of the same policy while posturing as a champion of fans.

Mar 20, 2026 — Schools closing, land governance secretive: Ford's school board takeover tightens its grip
Mar 20, 2026 — Ontario confirmed to miss April 1 federal deadline to publicly fund nurse practitioners
Mar 20, 2026 — Ford announces stricter ticket resale ban — seven years after killing the original cap

Mar 18, 2026

Endangered Species Plans Buried: Ontario Hides Recovery Strategies After Gutting the ESA

Internal government emails show Ontario completed years-long recovery plans for endangered wolves, butterflies, and bats — then secretly decided not to release them to the public, weeks after passing Bill 5 to eliminate the legal requirement to do so.

2 legal actions
Mar 18, 2026 — Ontario Nurses' Association confirms 700+ nurse and PSW positions cut since January 2025
Mar 18, 2026 — The Narwhal publishes FOI-sourced exposé: Ontario will not share endangered species recovery plans with the public
Mar 18, 2026 — Al-Quds Committee sends Ford cease-and-desist letter, threatens defamation suit
Mar 17, 2026 — Ford says he remains "keen" on Niagara amalgamation despite Gale resignation
Mar 17, 2026 — Manitoba introduces Bill 49 — Canada's first ban on personalized algorithmic pricing — fines up to $1 million for corporate repeat offenders
Mar 17, 2026 — First procedural hearing: York1 vs. Municipality of Chatham-Kent, Ontario Superior Court, Chatham

Mar 14, 2026

Ford Government's Failed Injunction Against Al-Quds Day Rally

Two-and-a-half hours before a rally held annually for 30 years, Doug Ford's government rushed a 109-page emergency injunction to shut it down — citing terrorism links and antisemitism. A judge dismissed it, finding no police support, no evidence linking the rally to recent violence, and that the government had come "dangerously close" to holding protesters accountable for others' acts.

1 legal actions
Mar 14, 2026 — Judge rejects Ford government's injunction; Al-Quds rally proceeds with 4,500 attendees

Mar 13, 2026

FIPPA Overhaul — Ford Makes All Premier and Cabinet Records Permanently Secret

The Ford government buried amendments inside the 2026 Budget Bill that would permanently exempt the Premier, all cabinet ministers, and their staff from freedom-of-information requests — retroactive to 1988 — nullifying every pending FOI request and active court case, including those seeking Doug Ford's personal cellphone records and Greenbelt-related emails. Ontario's own privacy watchdog publicly called three of Ford's stated justifications factually incorrect.

Mar 13, 2026

Starlink Secret Payout — Ford Cancels Deal, Refuses to Disclose Cost to Taxpayers

Doug Ford signed a $100-million Starlink broadband deal to appeal to Trump's inner circle, then abruptly cancelled it in response to Trump's tariffs. He then negotiated a confidential settlement to pay Elon Musk an undisclosed sum — and refuses to tell Ontario taxpayers how much public money they're handing over to the world's richest person, citing a confidentiality clause that he could have negotiated away.

3 legal actions

Mar 13, 2026

The FOI Transparency Scandal

After losing in court twice over his personal cellphone records, Doug Ford moved to retroactively rewrite Ontario's Freedom of Information law — exempting the Premier, all cabinet ministers, and their offices from public scrutiny, wiping out 38 years of access rights in one legislative stroke.

6 legal actions
Mar 13, 2026 — Ford settlement with SpaceX: cost to be kept secret from taxpayers
Mar 13, 2026 — Ford directs AG to seek emergency injunction against Al-Quds Day rally
Mar 13, 2026 — Ford moves to exempt Premier's office from FOI law — retroactive to 1988
Mar 13, 2026 — Ford buries FIPPA amendments in budget bill — would retroactively exempt Premier and all ministers from FOI back to 1988
Mar 12, 2026 — Gale resigns after anti-racism groups reveal he owns signed copy of Mein Kampf
Mar 11, 2026 — Billy Bishop opens US Preclearance facility, positioning airport for expanded cross-border routes

Mar 10, 2026

Conservation Authority Merger — Ford Forces 36 Local Environmental Watchdogs into 9, Overriding 14,000 Objections

Over the objections of more than 14,000 residents, municipalities, and environmental groups, the Ford government is forcing Ontario's 36 conservation authorities — locally funded, elected-representation bodies that manage watersheds, flood control, and natural hazards — to merge into just 9 regional bodies starting May 2026, weakening local accountability and environmental oversight at a time of escalating climate risk.

Mar 10, 2026

Public Money, Private Gains: Ontario's $300M Condo Developer Bailout

The Ford government's Building Ontario Fund quietly committed $300 million in public mezzanine debt to High Art Capital — a little-known private fund — to buy unsold GTA condos from developers and convert them to rentals. Only 25% of the 2,200 units will be "affordable," the developers being bailed out are also paid to manage the properties, and the deal closed in secret two weeks before the public found out.

Mar 10, 2026 — Ford government advances conservation authority merger plan to reduce 36 bodies to 9, overriding 14,000+ public objections
Mar 10, 2026 — Province Announces $1.3B Condo Fund — Framed as Affordable Housing
Mar 10, 2026 — Ford announces province will take over Billy Bishop Airport from City of Toronto
Mar 9, 2026 — Ford calls Toronto Island residents 'squatters' while pushing airport expansion
Mar 6, 2026 — Ford confirms considering filling in Lake Ontario for 2-million sq ft convention centre
Mar 5, 2026 — Hundreds protest OSAP cuts at Queen's Park; ~1,000 walk out at Waterloo; two arrested
Mar 5, 2026 — Ontario takes over York Catholic District School Board — eighth and most recent takeover
Mar 5, 2026 — York Catholic District School Board taken over — 8th board under provincial supervision
Mar 4, 2026 — Abacus poll: 52% of Canadians want surveillance pricing banned; 31% want strict regulation — 83% want some government action
Mar 4, 2026 — Province-wide student protests over OSAP cuts — 1,000+ at University of Waterloo; two arrests made at Queen's Park rally
Mar 3, 2026 — Neskantaga and Attawapiskat First Nations build physical encampment at Attawapiskat River to block Ring of Fire road construction

Mar 2, 2026

Ford's iGaming Expansion and the Rise of Online Gambling Addiction

Doug Ford's government launched Canada's first private online gambling market in 2022 — having first eliminated Ontario's only independent gambling research body in 2019, and immediately after handing lucrative lobbying contracts to his own campaign manager and vice-chair. A 2026 peer-reviewed study found a 317% surge in young men aged 15–24 seeking help for gambling addiction, while the province collects a quarter-billion dollars a year in gaming revenue.

Mar 2, 2026

Toronto Waterfront Power Grab — Exhibition Place, Convention Centre & Billy Bishop

Between November 2025 and March 2026, the Ford government announced plans to provincialize three of Toronto's major waterfront assets in rapid succession: legislative changes to seize Exhibition Place (192 acres of City of Toronto land); a proposal to fill in part of Lake Ontario to build a 2-million-square-foot convention centre (the city was not consulted); and a unilateral takeover of Billy Bishop Airport. None of these announcements were preceded by consultation with the City of Toronto or its residents. The convention centre site remains unconfirmed, unfeasibility-studied, and unfunded. The Exhibition Place moves followed years of provincial encroachment on adjacent Ontario Place — a $2.2-billion redevelopment awarded, without competition, to a company whose VP of Communications was Doug Ford's own former Chief of Staff.

4 legal actions
Mar 2, 2026 — Ford teases "spectacular" new convention centre announcement "coming shortly" — city not consulted
Mar 2, 2026 — CMAJ study finds 317% surge in young men aged 15–24 contacting Ontario gambling helpline since iGaming launch

Mar 1, 2026

Kara Ford's Runnymede Appointment

Premier Doug Ford's daughter Kara was quietly hired in 2022 at a provincially funded hospital with a two-year community college diploma and a background as a makeup artist — no healthcare experience. By 2025 she was earning $211,468 as Director of Strategy, outearning her own father's public salary, while her employer received tens of millions in Ford government capital funding.

Mar 1, 2026 — Ontario defunds 7 remaining consumption sites — 90 days notice; Toronto paramedic calls up 47% year-over-year
Mar 1, 2026 — Kara Ford's 33.9% raise to $211,468 revealed on 2025 Sunshine List; she earns more than Premier Doug Ford's public salary
Mar 1, 2026 — Federal Privacy Commissioner finds Loblaws violated PIPEDA: delayed account deletions, retained re-identifiable PC Optimum data indefinitely
Mar 1, 2026 — BMO Economist and CCPA Raise Alarm Over Developer Bailout Structure
Feb 26, 2026 — Ford announces Billy Bishop expansion to accommodate jets at Toronto Region Board of Trade dinner
Feb 26, 2026 — Gale demands Niagara collapse into 1 or 4 cities; 8 of 12 mayors oppose
Feb 26, 2026 — Ford calls Billy Bishop a "gold mine," demands runway extension for jets

Feb 25, 2026

Ontario Stops Publishing Child Welfare Death Reports After Statistics Hit Record High

Ontario's Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services quietly stopped producing its annual reports tracking child welfare-connected deaths — reports that showed the number rising every year, reaching 134 in 2023, one every three days. Internal government documents show officials flagged the death statistics as a PR problem that could "overshadow" a planned announcement. When Global News filed an FOI in early 2026, the ministry said the records didn't exist.

Feb 25, 2026 — Ontario Admits It Stopped Producing Child Welfare Death Reports

Feb 17, 2026

Ring of Fire Fast-Track — Ontario Bypasses Environmental Assessment and Indigenous Consent for Mining Rush

The Ford government is fast-tracking Ring of Fire mining and road construction through its Bill 5 "One Project, One Process" system, overriding the objections of Grassy Narrows First Nation — a community still living with mercury poisoning — bypassing a federally required environmental assessment, and pushing toward a June 2026 construction start that Neskantaga and Attawapiskat First Nations are physically blockading.

1 legal actions
Feb 17, 2026 — Ford tells students: "You're picking basket-weaving courses, and there's not too many baskets"
Feb 17, 2026 — Kinross Gold's Great Bear mine fast-tracked under Bill 5's One Project One Process, bypassing environmental assessment and Grassy Narrows' ongoing legal challenge
Feb 15, 2026 — Ontario's three chief justices issue rare joint statement defending judicial independence as "cornerstone of constitutional democracy"
Feb 13, 2026 — BOF Quietly Closes $300M Deal with High Art Capital

Feb 12, 2026

OSAP Cuts & Post-Secondary Defunding — Two Waves, a COVID Clawback, and "Basket-Weaving Courses"

In January 2019, Ford cut OSAP by $670 million — eliminating free tuition for low-income families, dropping 24,000 students from the program, and shifting the system from grants to loans. When the federal government doubled student grants during COVID, Ontario clawed back $400 million instead of passing it to students. The tuition freeze Ford extended repeatedly was never accompanied by restored aid or compensated operating grants — Laurentian University went bankrupt in 2021, the first public university in Canadian history to do so. In February 2026, Ford announced a second wave: grants capped at 25% of OSAP packages (down from 85%), with 75% as loans — and told students choosing the wrong programs to stop picking "basket-weaving courses." Hundreds protested at Queen's Park.

4 legal actions
Feb 12, 2026 — Ford government announces OSAP grants slashed from 85% to 25% max — remainder shifts to loans, 7-year tuition freeze ends
Feb 12, 2026 — Minister McCarthy announces $20M species conservation fund while recovery plans remain suppressed from public
Feb 12, 2026 — Ford announces second OSAP wave: grants capped at 25%, 75% loans; tuition freeze lifted

Feb 5, 2026

Doug Ford, the Ford Family & Toronto Police — Hashish Allegations, Organized Crime Ties, and Project South

An 18-month Globe and Mail investigation found ten sources — including former suppliers and street-level dealers — describing Doug Ford as a mid-level hashish dealer in Etobicoke for roughly seven years in the 1980s. Ford denied it and was never charged. His brother Rob Ford's crack cocaine scandal exposed ties to the Dixon City Bloods gang, wiretapped by Toronto Police in Project Traveller. Ford's longtime friend Sandro Lisi — alleged extortionist attempting to recover the crack video — denied ever being known by Doug, despite working on the 2010 mayoral campaign Doug co-managed. As Premier, Ford appointed his personal friend Ron Taverner as OPP Commissioner (reversed after the deputy who raised alarms was fired), and his son-in-law Dave Haynes faces 12 Toronto Police misconduct charges while Ford serves as Premier. In February 2026, seven TPS officers were charged with selling live police intelligence to organized crime — enabling shootings, extortion, and trafficking. Ford's response: "There's always a few bad apples."

5 legal actions
Feb 5, 2026 — Seven TPS officers charged with selling police intelligence to organized crime (Project South)
Feb 4, 2026 — Ford tells unhappy public servant to "get another job" in personal voicemail

Feb 1, 2026

Judicial Independence Attacks — Ford Calls Courts "a Joke," Demands Elected Judges

Premier Doug Ford made repeated public attacks on the independence of Ontario's judiciary in early 2026 — calling judicial independence "a joke," suggesting US-style elected judges, calling sitting judges "bleeding hearts," and proposing to livestream bail hearings in potential violation of publication bans. Ontario's three chief justices issued a rare joint statement reaffirming judicial independence as a constitutional cornerstone; the Ontario Bar Association warned Ford's proposed changes would politicize the bench.

Feb 1, 2026 — Ford calls judicial independence "a joke," suggests US-style elected judges and offers to "pay out" sitting judges to retire
Feb 1, 2026 — Integrity Commissioner launches formal ethics investigation into Labour Minister David Piccini over SDF contractor connections
Jan 29, 2026 — OSSTF president: "This level of government interference is unprecedented in Ontario's education system"
Jan 28, 2026 — New BOF Board Member Appointed 16 Days Before Condo Deal Closes
Jan 27, 2026 — Ecojustice files formal SARA petition demanding federal emergency order for Piping Plover habitat by March 1, 2026
Jan 27, 2026 — Ontario confirms Wasaga Beach park transfer despite 98% opposition in 14,233 public comments
Jan 15, 2026 — Court of Appeal hears Ford's challenge; injunction keeping bike lanes intact
Jan 15, 2026 — Province sues Keel Digital Solutions for $25.9M alleging fraudulent Skills Development Fund claims; Keel files countersuit against Ontario
Jan 14, 2026 — President John Tibbits Retires Abruptly
Jan 13, 2026 — Waterloo Region halts all new development — aquifer exhausted by Ford's industrial permits
Jan 9, 2026 — Court upholds: Ford must release personal cellphone records to public
Jan 8, 2026 — Supreme Court of Canada grants leave to hear constitutional challenge to the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act
Jan 5, 2026 — Full-time five-day mandate takes effect amid office space crisis
Jan 1, 2026 — Billy Bishop Airport designated Ontario's first Special Economic Zone under Bill 5
Jan 1, 2026 — Ontario takes over Peel District School Board; Calandra initially serves as supervisor
Jan 1, 2026 — Competition Bureau publishes "What We Heard" report on algorithmic pricing — signals monitoring only, no regulation
2025
Dec 22, 2025 — Consumer Reports exposes Instacart AI pricing tests: different prices for identical items, gaps up to 23%, costing families up to $1,200/year
Dec 19, 2025 — Conestoga Lays Off 181 Faculty and 197 Support Staff

Dec 15, 2025

Legislature Avoidance — Ford's Accountability Deficit

The Ford government has systematically minimized time spent in the Ontario Legislature — the only venue where the Premier faces mandatory daily questioning. In 2019, Ford took the longest legislative break in 25 years. In 2024, sitting days were cancelled so the legislature didn't return until six weeks after the scheduled date. In all of 2025, the government sat just 51 days out of 365. Ford then called a snap election in January 2025 — well ahead of the scheduled June 2026 date — dissolving the legislature while RCMP investigations, Auditor General findings, and FOI battles were all active.

4 legal actions
Dec 15, 2025 — Legislature sat just 51 of 365 days in 2025 — Ford begins winter break
Dec 15, 2025 — Indigenous grassroots members from Attawapiskat file to intervene in Bill 5 court challenge
Dec 15, 2025 — Calandra states he could remove all English public trustees "in one fell swoop, if I wanted to"
Dec 12, 2025 — TDSB director Clayton La Touche removed by Ford's appointed supervisor Rohit Gupta
Dec 12, 2025 — TDSB supervisor Rohit Gupta fires Director of Education Clayton La Touche
Dec 4, 2025 — Supreme Court of Canada upholds Jordan framework in Vrbanic case — declines to weaken trial deadline ceilings despite pressure from Ontario and federal government

Dec 2, 2025

Ontario's Secret Advertising Machine: $452 Million in Partisan Spending

The Ford government has spent $452 million in taxpayer-funded advertising since 2018 — repeatedly refusing to disclose campaign costs until forced by FOI — while the Auditor General found 38% of spending was designed to promote the governing party, and the firm behind the most controversial ad is run by Doug Ford's campaign manager's brother-in-law.

3 legal actions
Dec 2, 2025 — Auditor General Spence reports record $111.9 million ad spend — 38% designed to promote governing party

Dec 1, 2025

Niagara Amalgamation & the Bob Gale Appointment

Ford appointed a former PC candidate as Niagara Region's chair to push amalgamation of its 12 municipalities — bypassing elections entirely. Within weeks, Bob Gale was aggressively lobbying to collapse Niagara into one or four cities. He resigned on March 12, 2026, after anti-racism advocates revealed he owned a signed copy of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf. Ford said he remains "keen" on amalgamation regardless.

3 legal actions
Dec 1, 2025 — Infrastructure Ontario begins CSO construction in West Channel; doctors warn of "preventable public health crisis" as government claims it is "unrelated" to Ontario Place
Dec 1, 2025 — First Nations constitutional challenge expands to 14 nations; Attawapiskat grassroots interveners file
Dec 1, 2025 — Near North District School Board taken over — 6th board under provincial supervision
Dec 1, 2025 — Ontario takes over Near North District School Board in North Bay
Nov 25, 2025 — Bill 68 passes — removes 60 hectares of Wasaga Beach Provincial Park from protection via omnibus budget bill, bypassing required stand-alone MPP vote
Nov 25, 2025 — Ontario files appeal of Maplehurst murder stay — argues judge "materially misapprehended the evidence"

Nov 24, 2025

Ontario Water Privatization

The Ford government has pursued a multi-front assault on Ontario's public water systems: passing legislation that enables privatization of $175.8 billion in municipal water infrastructure, dismantling the province's Clean Water Act protections, deregulating the water-taking permit system that allows aquifer overuse, and refusing to require mining companies to obtain permits before taking groundwater — all while Waterloo Region hit a water capacity crisis severe enough to halt development.

4 legal actions
Nov 24, 2025 — Bill 60 passed — enables for-profit corporations to run municipal water systems
Nov 19, 2025 — Bill 33 passes third reading amid Queen's Park protests, removing Divisional Court appeal rights
Nov 19, 2025 — Bill 33 passes — strips boards' right to judicial review of provincial takeover orders
Nov 19, 2025 — Bill 33 passes, stripping boards of Divisional Court appeal rights and mandating school resource officers
Nov 15, 2025 — $1.04B contract awarded for new Science Centre — 3× original estimate; 45% the size
Nov 14, 2025 — Speed cameras banned across Ontario — 1,000 jobs at risk
Nov 6, 2025 — Ontario Fall Economic Statement: remaining $4 billion in tariff reserve designated for future streams — details deferred
Nov 1, 2025 — Bill 68: Ford buries Exhibition Place seizure powers in budget omnibus bill
Oct 30, 2025 — Federal IAAC rejects designation request despite acknowledging landfill "may cause adverse effects" to species at risk; Dresden C.A.R.E.D. considers appeal
Oct 30, 2025 — Bill 56 passes Ontario Legislature
Oct 24, 2025 — Justice Conlan stays first-degree murder charges in Oakville killing of Arman Dhillon — finds Maplehurst correctional officers committed conduct "akin to torture" done "for vengeance"
Oct 24, 2025 — Reagan anti-tariff commercial pulled after Donald Trump halts Canada trade talks over the ad

Oct 23, 2025

Ontario's Health-Care Job Cuts

The Ford government broke its 2018 promise that "not a single person will lose their job" — eliminating hundreds of health-care positions in 2019 and setting a funding path that Ontario's own Financial Accountability Office projects will cut over 9,000 nurse and PSW positions by 2027-28, in the middle of a nursing shortage already driving emergency room closures across the province.

Oct 23, 2025 — Financial Accountability Office projects Ford spending plan will eliminate 7,263 nurse and 1,784 PSW positions by 2027-28
Oct 21, 2025 — All five Ontario education unions release joint statement against Bill 33: "This is how democracy dies"
Oct 20, 2025 — Four-day in-office phase begins for Ontario public servants
Oct 15, 2025 — Cabinet vehicles caught speeding 23 times by cameras
Oct 15, 2025 — Integrity Commissioner opens probe into Labour Minister Piccini over SDF
Oct 3, 2025 — Ford's campaign manager Kory Teneycke's clients received $100M+ in SDF grants

Oct 1, 2025

Ontario's $10/Day Child Care Failure — Targets Missed, Profits Prioritised, Families Left Behind

Ford stood beside Justin Trudeau in March 2022 to sign a $13.2 billion deal promising $10/day child care for Ontario families by March 2026 and 86,000 new spaces by December 2026. Within months his government stripped the deal's profit-oversight rules — over federal objections. He delayed a stable funding formula for two years, pushing operators to the brink. The $10/day deadline has now passed: Ontario's average sits at $19/day — nearly double the target. Only 36,287 of the promised 48,000 interim spaces were created. Eight provinces already hit $10/day. Enrolment among lower-income subsidised families dropped 31%. The Auditor General identified a $2B funding gap and said Ontario is not on track on any of its core commitments.

3 legal actions

Oct 1, 2025

Skills Development Fund — $750M Patronage Scandal

Ontario's Auditor General found that $750 million in Skills Development Fund grants were awarded in a process that was "not fair, transparent or accountable." Ford's own campaign manager Kory Teneycke runs a lobbying firm whose clients received over $100 million — nearly 3x any other firm. The Premier's nephew's former chief of staff registered as a lobbyist immediately after leaving the Premier's office, and his clients received grants. Labour Minister David Piccini's office overrode civil servants' recommendations in over half of cases reviewed.

3 legal actions
Oct 1, 2025 — IPC issues legal summons to Ford's former housing chief of staff Ryan Amato
Oct 1, 2025 — Auditor General finds Skills Development Fund not fair, transparent or accountable — key precedent for Ontario discretionary fund oversight
Oct 1, 2025 — Auditor General: Ontario not on track for $10/day child care; 31% drop in subsidised enrolment
Oct 1, 2025 — Auditor General: $750M in SDF grants "not fair, transparent or accountable"

Sep 25, 2025

Speed Camera Ban — Ignoring Evidence to Protect Speeding Politicians

Ford's government legalized speed cameras in 2019, then banned them in 2025 — ignoring peer-reviewed evidence that they cut school-zone speeding by 45% — after his own cabinet ministers' vehicles racked up 23 speed camera tickets and hit stunt-driving speeds.

1 legal actions
Sep 25, 2025 — Ford announces province-wide speed camera ban
Sep 18, 2025 — Province tells Toronto its COHB allocation drops to $7.95M — only 40 more households can access housing before winter
Sep 18, 2025 — Ontario public servants rally at Queen's Park against return-to-office order
Sep 11, 2025 — Town of Wasaga Beach selects Urban Strategies Inc. to design Destination Wasaga master plan
Sep 3, 2025 — AMAPCEO files policy dispute over inadequate notice of return-to-office mandate
Aug 20, 2025 — Integrity Commissioner Cathryn Motherwell declines to investigate, stating she made "no findings about the underlying facts" of the EA reversal
Aug 20, 2025 — Integrity Commissioner declines York 1 donor probe but makes no finding on how Schedule 3 came to be included

Aug 14, 2025

Ontario Public Service Return-to-Office Mandate

Ford's government ordered 60,000 Ontario public servants back to the office full-time with little notice, no new office space secured, and no evidence of productivity gains — then told unhappy workers to "get another job."

1 legal actions
Aug 14, 2025 — Ford government orders 60,000 Ontario public servants back to office full-time
Aug 13, 2025 — Protect Ontario Financing Program launches — $1 billion in emergency tariff-relief loans to steel, aluminum, and auto businesses
Aug 1, 2025 — Construction begins on Highway 413 before environmental review completed
Jul 30, 2025 — Ontario Superior Court: Bill 212 violates Charter right to life — immunity clause cited as proof
Jul 25, 2025 — SickKids study proves speed cameras cut speeding by 45%
Jul 15, 2025 — Nine Treaty 9 First Nations file constitutional challenge against Bill 5 in Ontario Superior Court
Jul 15, 2025 — Nine Treaty 9 First Nations file constitutional challenge against Bill 5; seek $100M damages and injunction
Jul 4, 2025 — MECP posts ERO notice 025-0389 confirming EA exemption; 2,162 submissions received opposing the change, only 4 supportive
Jul 1, 2025 — Hamilton records worst-ever monthly opioid overdoses since closures; Toronto overdoses up 288%

Jun 27, 2025

Ontario School Board Takeovers

The Ford government stripped elected trustees of all authority at 8 of Ontario's largest school boards — covering 750,000 students — installing politically-connected supervisors and passing legislation that removed the courts as a check on ministerial power.

1 legal actions
Jun 27, 2025 — Ford government seizes control of TDSB and three other school boards, citing financial mismanagement
Jun 27, 2025 — Ontario takes over TDSB, Toronto Catholic, Ottawa-Carleton, and Dufferin-Peel Catholic school boards simultaneously
Jun 17, 2025 — Ontario Ministry of Environment approves suppression of endangered species recovery plans
Jun 9, 2025 — Ministry coordinator requests approval to complete recovery strategies but withhold public posting from Environmental Registry

Jun 5, 2025

Dresden Dump Deal: Ford Cancels Environmental Assessment for $200K PC Donor's Landfill Over Endangered Species Habitat

The Ford government promised a comprehensive environmental assessment for a proposed landfill directly upstream from Canada's only population of the salamander mussel — then buried the reversal inside omnibus Bill 5 after winning a byelection on the promise, exempting a company whose owners donated $200,000 to the PCs from all provincial environmental review, leaving 33 species at risk in one of Canada's most biodiverse rivers with no provincial protection.

4 legal actions

Jun 5, 2025

Bill 5 — Repealing Environmental Protections and Creating Law-Free Zones for Developers

Under cover of a tariff emergency, Doug Ford passed omnibus legislation that repealed Ontario's Endangered Species Act, created law-free "special economic zones" where cabinet can suspend any provincial rule for handpicked companies, and quietly cancelled environmental assessments for a landfill owned by $200,000 PC donors — repeating the exact playbook of the Greenbelt scandal with no limits and no oversight.

3 legal actions
Jun 5, 2025 — Bill 5 repeals Ontario's Endangered Species Act — Piping Plover loses all provincial habitat protection
Jun 5, 2025 — Bill 5 receives royal assent — Endangered Species Act formally repealed after 18 years
Jun 5, 2025 — Bill 5 receives Royal Assent; York1 Dresden landfill exempted from all provincial environmental assessment requirements
Jun 5, 2025 — Royal Assent — Endangered Species Act repealed after 18 years; Special Economic Zones Act comes into force
Jun 5, 2025 — Bill 5 receives Royal Assent: Ford government eliminates public consultation requirement for all Ontario Place permits
Jun 4, 2025 — Bill 5 passes third reading at Queen's Park
Jun 1, 2025 — Ontario Ombudsman reports record 6,870 correctional complaints (55% increase); calls for "urgent reform" of overcrowded jails running at 130% capacity
Jun 1, 2025 — Competition Bureau seeks public input on algorithmic pricing — 103 responses received; no enforcement action follows
Jun 1, 2025 — Province Launches Audit of Conestoga College
Jun 1, 2025 — Ford Government Passes Bill 17, Stripping Municipal Site-Plan Control
May 29, 2025 — Bill 33 (Supporting Children and Students Act) introduced — expanding ministerial takeover powers over school boards
May 29, 2025 — Bill 33 (Supporting Children and Students Act) introduced, expanding ministerial takeover powers
May 22, 2025 — Ford announces $38M "Destination Wasaga" — transfers 60 hectares of Wasaga Beach Provincial Park to the Town for commercial redevelopment
May 17, 2025 — Public comment deadline passes with over 100 environmental and civil organizations in formal opposition
May 15, 2025 — Ford government tables 2025 budget creating $5 billion Protecting Ontario Account for tariff relief
May 12, 2025 — Liberal MPP Ted Hsu files complaint with Ontario Integrity Commissioner over Premier Ford and ministers' connections to York1 donors
May 9, 2025 — Liberal MPP Ted Hsu asks Integrity Commissioner to probe York 1 landfill donors and Bill 5 Schedule 3
May 9, 2025 — The Trillium publishes donor investigation: Guizzetti brothers, Brunetti, and associates donated ~$200,000 to PC causes since 2018
Apr 23, 2025 — Ontario takes over Thames Valley District School Board — first provincial school board takeover
Apr 17, 2025 — Bill 5 introduced on eve of Easter long weekend; proposes to repeal Endangered Species Act, create Special Economic Zones, and cancel York 1 landfill environmental assessment
Apr 17, 2025 — Minister Stephen Lecce introduces Bill 5 on eve of Easter long weekend; Schedule 3 cancels the Dresden EA requirement and revokes Ontario Reg. 284/24
Apr 17, 2025 — Ford government introduces Bill 5 on eve of Easter weekend, proposing to repeal Ontario's Endangered Species Act
Apr 16, 2025 — Court injunction halts bike lane removals pending Charter challenge
Apr 1, 2025 — 9 Toronto-area consumption sites close — first month: overdoses at drop-in centres up 75%
Mar 31, 2025 — Metrolinx 2024–25 annual report reveals $8.2 billion in total outstanding legal claims from expropriations and contractor disputes
Mar 28, 2025 — Court grants injunction — judge finds closures will cause deaths; Jones closes 9 of 10 sites anyway
Mar 28, 2025 — Supreme Court strikes down Bill 307 election ad limits 5-4 — Ford's notwithstanding clause fails
Feb 28, 2025 — Province withdraws CSO application after 2,250 public objections — one of the ERO's largest public comment responses for a single infrastructure permit
Feb 27, 2025 — Ford PCs re-elected with majority; deregulation platform provides mandate for Bill 5
Feb 22, 2025 — Ontario's top civil servant pauses 15 government ad campaigns deemed partisan when election is called
Feb 1, 2025 — Science Centre roof survives major snowstorm intact; Ford still refuses to reopen
Jan 30, 2025 — Ford government announces $10.7M for two new PTSI facilities operated by Runnymede Healthcare Centre
Jan 29, 2025 — Ford calls snap election while $40 million partisan ad blitz is still running
Jan 29, 2025 — Snap election called 18 months early — dissolves legislature mid-investigation
Jan 20, 2025 — Ford abruptly cancels Starlink deal days after Trump announces tariffs
Jan 10, 2025 — Federal government issues Canada Health Act interpretation: NP services must be publicly funded by April 1, 2026

Jan 1, 2025

Craft Kingsmen's $500M Metrolinx Air Rights Shakedown

A company co-led by Ford's close friend and PC Party fundraiser Carmine Nigro extracted an undisclosed settlement from Ontario's public transit agency after claiming $500 million for air rights it never fully paid for — and the Ford government refuses to say how much taxpayers owe.

1 legal actions
Jan 1, 2025 — Metrolinx and Craft Kingsmen reach confidential settlement — Ford government refuses to disclose how much taxpayers paid
Jan 1, 2025 — Ford government internally briefed on pattern of 157 improper inmate releases — no public disclosure for over a year
2024
Dec 31, 2024 — 2024 sets record: 1,117 emergency department closures across Ontario

Dec 27, 2024

Ontario Place Sewage: Ford Reroutes Raw Sewage Into Lake Ontario

To prepare Ontario Place for a private Austrian spa, the Ford government rerouted a raw sewage overflow pipe into the West Channel of Lake Ontario — bypassing public consultation, exempting the project from environmental review, and proceeding over the objections of physicians, landscape architects, and 2,250 Ontarians who formally opposed the plan.

3 legal actions
Dec 27, 2024 — Province quietly posts ERO notice during holidays seeking approval to reroute sewage CSO pipe into the West Channel at Ontario Place
Dec 15, 2024 — Ford appoints former PC candidate Bob Gale as Niagara Regional Chair — no election
Dec 15, 2024 — Auditor General: closed sites prevented 1,600 fatal overdoses per year; government did no studies before closing
Dec 12, 2024 — Ford introduces Safer Municipalities Act to criminalize homeless encampments; pledges notwithstanding clause
Dec 10, 2024 — AG: Science Centre relocation already costs more than roof repairs would have
Dec 10, 2024 — Auditor General: Ontario Place deal costs $2.24B; Therme credentials fabricated

Dec 3, 2024

Ontario Place / Therme Spa

Ford handed 8 acres of prime Toronto waterfront to an Austrian spa company that had misrepresented its own credentials, locked taxpayers into a 95-year lease, and watched infrastructure costs balloon from $424M to $2.24 billion — all through a procurement process the Auditor General found was not fair, transparent, or accountable.

3 legal actions
Dec 1, 2024 — Bill 223 passes — municipalities barred from seeking federal exemptions for new or relocated sites
Dec 1, 2024 — Auditor General reports record $103.5 million in advertising — triple the prior year; 61% flagged as partisan

Nov 25, 2024

Bill 212 — Bike Lane Removal & Liability Immunity

Ford's Bill 212 ordered the removal of 19 kilometres of protected bike lanes in Toronto — overriding the city's elected council — then added a clause barring any cyclist who is injured or killed as a result from suing the province. The Ontario Superior Court found this violates the Charter right to life. The judge explicitly cited the immunity clause as the government's own acknowledgment that people would be seriously hurt. An injunction has halted removals while the Court of Appeal considers the case.

4 legal actions
Nov 25, 2024 — Bill 212: Ford orders Toronto bike lanes removed; buries immunity clause barring lawsuits
Nov 23, 2024 — Ford Appoints Ex-Scotiabank CEO as Building Ontario Fund Chair
Nov 19, 2024 — RESCON Files Court Challenge Against Toronto Green Standard
Nov 18, 2024 — Ford wins third majority
Nov 15, 2024 — Ford announces $100M Starlink deal to "appease Trump's inner circle"
Nov 4, 2024 — Legislature sits just 28 days in fall 2024 session
Nov 1, 2024 — Bill 212 passes — Ford threatens Section 33 after court strikes down Toronto bike lane removals
Oct 1, 2024 — Internal Government Document Flags Child Death Statistics as PR Problem
Oct 1, 2024 — Daycares across Toronto and GTA stage rolling closures over inadequate Ford funding formula
Sep 9, 2024 — Ford cancels all September sittings — returns 6 weeks late
Sep 1, 2024 — 134 Children Died in Ontario's Child Welfare System in 2023 — Highest on Record

Aug 20, 2024

Ford Closes Supervised Consumption Sites — 288% Overdose Spike Follows

In August 2024, Ford's government ordered the closure of supervised consumption sites within 200 metres of schools or daycares — a rule that targeted 10 sites for elimination. The government conducted no studies before closing them. Its own internal risk assessment warned deaths would result. Its own commissioned reviews of the triggering site recommended against closure. Ontario's Auditor General found the sites had prevented nearly 1,600 fatal overdoses in a single year. After the April 2025 closures: overdoses at Toronto drop-in centres rose 75% in the first month, 175% in May, and 288% by June. Paramedic opioid overdose calls in Toronto were up 47% by January 2026. Hamilton recorded its worst overdose numbers in history. Health Minister Sylvia Jones, asked if she had estimated how many people would die: "People are not going to die."

4 legal actions
Aug 20, 2024 — Jones announces ban on consumption sites within 200m of schools — 10 sites targeted for closure
Jul 1, 2024 — Auditor General repeats 2019 recommendation to track reasons for stayed charges — Ministry of Attorney General refuses for the second time
Jun 28, 2024 — Ontario formally designates York1 project for comprehensive environmental assessment under Ontario Reg. 284/24
Jun 28, 2024 — Ford ejects MPP Ghamari after she publicizes meeting with Tommy Robinson (EDL founder)

Jun 21, 2024

Ontario Science Centre — Manufactured Closure & Ontario Place Relocation

Ford abruptly closed the Ontario Science Centre on June 21, 2024, citing a dangerous roof — but the engineers' own report did not recommend closure. The same roofing material exists in 400+ other Ontario buildings that remain open. The roof survived a major snowstorm intact. Ford refused to reopen it anyway. The Science Centre is now temporarily housed in a mall and at Harbourfront while a replacement is built at Ontario Place — a project whose cost has ballooned from $322 million to over $1 billion, with the new building 45% the size of the original.

3 legal actions
Jun 21, 2024 — Ontario Science Centre abruptly closed — engineers' own report didn't recommend it

May 24, 2024

Beer Store Privatization

Ford broke a legally binding provincial contract to give grocery giants and convenience store chains the right to sell alcohol — handing corporations billions in new revenue while costing Ontario taxpayers $225 million upfront and a projected $1.4 billion in lost tax revenue by 2030.

2 legal actions
May 2, 2024 — Lambton-Kent-Middlesex byelection; PC candidate Steve Pinsonneault wins with 56.85% of the vote having campaigned explicitly against the landfill
May 1, 2024 — Ontario announces $29M for 25 new judges and 190 Crown prosecutors — Crown attorneys' association says resources are "not at the frontlines"
May 1, 2024 — Ford reverses Greenbelt removals — developers keep billions in land value gains
Apr 16, 2024 — Health Minister Sylvia Jones writes to Ottawa demanding closure of nurse practitioner billing "loophole"
Mar 31, 2024 — FOI request reveals "It's Happening Here" campaign cost $8 million — government had refused to disclose
Mar 26, 2024 — Ontario posts ERO notice 019-8417; 45-day consultation opens on whether to require a comprehensive environmental assessment
Mar 26, 2024 — Ford Creates Building Ontario Fund with $8B Mandate
Mar 22, 2024 — Federal government drops environmental assessment for Highway 413
Mar 7, 2024 — Environmental Defence and Dresden C.A.R.E.D. publicly oppose York1 landfill, citing 33 species at risk in the East Sydenham River — including Canada's only salamander mussel population
Feb 28, 2024 — AGCO bans athletes from iGaming ads — public health advocates call it insufficient
Feb 12, 2024 — Court of Appeal upholds ruling: Bill 124 unconstitutionally stripped worker rights
Jan 15, 2024 — Ontario Environmental Registry posts York1 landfill proposal for public comment; over 1,000 submissions oppose the expansion
Jan 1, 2024 — Craft Kingsmen files $492.9M Ontario Land Tribunal claim against Metrolinx for air rights it never paid for
Jan 1, 2024 — COHB funding for Toronto begins multi-year 80% cut: $38M → $19.75M → $7.95M by 2026
Jan 1, 2024 — Kara Ford promoted to Director, Strategy and Stakeholder Engagement; salary jumps 19% to $157,884
2023
Dec 22, 2023 — Correctional officers at Maplehurst zip-tie approximately 200 inmates in underwear, force them to sit facing walls for up to two days — retaliation for an unrelated assault on a guard
Dec 1, 2023 — Ford passes Rebuilding Ontario Place Act, exempting Therme West Island from Environmental Assessment Act — passed in just over one week
Dec 1, 2023 — FAO: Total cost of Beer Store privatization to hit $1.4B by 2030
Nov 29, 2023 — Auditor General reports 200+ unplanned ER closures in one year due to nurse and doctor shortages
Nov 15, 2023 — Muslim groups demand Ford remove MPP Ghamari over documented Islamophobia — Ford refuses
Oct 5, 2023 — RCMP opens criminal investigation into Greenbelt land changes
Sep 22, 2023 — Jenni Byrne + Associates — founded by Ford's former Principal Secretary — registers six employees to lobby for Loblaws at the Ontario provincial level
Sep 1, 2023 — Housing Minister Steve Clark resigns amid Greenbelt scandal
Aug 14, 2023 — OPP flight logs show Ford's government aircraft routed to Buttonville Airport near his Muskoka cottage during FordFest trip

Aug 9, 2023

The Greenbelt Scandal

Premier Doug Ford secretly handed 15 parcels of protected Greenbelt farmland to well-connected developers through a three-week backroom process — a windfall worth $8.3 billion to those developers — and only reversed it after the Auditor General publicly exposed the scheme.

4 legal actions
Aug 9, 2023 — Auditor General: Greenbelt changes to benefit PC donors worth $8.3B
Aug 9, 2023 — AG: Ford staff used code word "G*" to hide Greenbelt records from FOI
Jul 7, 2023 — Karolina Huebner-Makurat shot and killed near South Riverdale CTS site — Ford uses it to justify closures
Jul 1, 2023 — Ontario Place environmental assessment: province threatens to expropriate City of Toronto waterfront land
Jun 8, 2023 — Bill 98 receives Royal Assent — minister can now override trustees on school property sales
Apr 17, 2023 — Bill 98 introduced, giving minister power to force school boards to sell land to private developers
Mar 23, 2023 — Ford breaks legally binding Beer Store contract; $225M payout to taxpayers
Mar 1, 2023 — Court of Appeal strikes down Bill 307 — notwithstanding clause cannot protect Section 3 violations
Mar 1, 2023 — Kara Ford appears on 2022 Sunshine List — public learns for first time that Premier's daughter was hired at provincially funded hospital
Jan 1, 2023 — Ontario hits three simultaneous records for Jordan deadline stays: 125 charges stayed (double prior year), highest grant rate, most applications filed
2022
Dec 22, 2022 — Chair of Ontario's Species Conservation Action Agency resigns in protest of Ford government's environmental direction
Dec 1, 2022 — Guizzetti brothers and Brian Brunetti acquire the dormant Dresden landfill site; York1 Environmental Waste Solutions begins expansion planning
Dec 1, 2022 — Auditor General flags "Ontario Is Getting Stronger" as designed to create a positive impression of the government

Nov 29, 2022

Bill 124 / Bill 28 — Healthcare & Education Wage Suppression

Ford's Bill 124 capped wages for 780,000 public sector workers — mostly nurses and healthcare staff — at 1% annually for three years while inflation ran at 4–7%. Two courts struck it down as unconstitutional. Separately, Bill 28 invoked the notwithstanding clause to ban 55,000 education workers from striking, threatening fines of $500,000/day on the union and $4,000/day on individuals. Ford was forced to repeal it within days after a threatened general strike. Ontario ultimately paid $4.3 million in legal costs.

3 legal actions
Nov 29, 2022 — Court strikes down Bill 124 as unconstitutional — Charter rights violated
Nov 14, 2022 — Bill 35 repeals Bill 28 unanimously — fastest repeal of a government bill in Canadian history
Nov 7, 2022 — Ford announces repeal of Bill 28 facing threatened national general strike
Nov 7, 2022 — Ford repeals Bill 28 after threat of province-wide general strike
Nov 4, 2022 — CUPE education workers strike in defiance of Bill 28 and its fines
Nov 4, 2022 — Secret 3-week Greenbelt land removal process begins under Ryan Amato
Nov 3, 2022 — Bill 28: Ford invokes notwithstanding clause to ban education worker strike
Nov 3, 2022 — Bill 28 passes — first use of notwithstanding clause against labour rights in Canadian history
Aug 1, 2022 — Ontario strips profit oversight rules from child care agreement — over federal objections
Jun 2, 2022 — Ford wins second majority
Jun 1, 2022 — Therme Group awarded 95-year lease on Ontario Place for $1/year
Apr 4, 2022 — iGaming Ontario launches: Canada's first private online gambling market opens with 50 licensed operators
Mar 28, 2022 — Ford and Trudeau sign $13.2B child care deal: $10/day by 2026, 86,000 new spaces

Mar 7, 2022

Ford's Shelter Funding Cuts — Slashing Homelessness Programs While Criminalizing the People Left Behind

Doug Ford has systematically cut funding for Ontario's homeless shelter and housing programs while homelessness has surged across the province. His 2019 budget slashed $550 million annually from affordable housing and homelessness prevention. In 2022 he quietly cut $268 million from homelessness programs while announcing a fake "$25 million boost." By 2025, his government gutted the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit for Toronto by 80% — from $38 million to $7.95 million — eliminating the most effective tool for moving people out of shelters and into housing. Rather than build capacity, Ford's response was to criminalize homelessness: his Safer Municipalities Act threatens homeless people with fines up to $10,000 and jail time, while he pledged to invoke the notwithstanding clause to override any court protection for people living outside. Some 12,000 people are in Toronto's shelter system alone.

4 legal actions
Mar 7, 2022 — Ford quietly cuts $268M from homelessness programs while claiming a "$25M boost"
Mar 1, 2022 — "Ontario Is Getting Stronger" pre-election campaign runs — $13.5 million, government refuses to disclose cost
Feb 15, 2022 — Former Ford PC MPP Randy Hillier photographed with Diagolon neo-fascist flag
Jan 1, 2022 — Ford government commits $1M to Runnymede Healthcare Centre for PTSI rehabilitation centre planning
Jan 1, 2022 — Kara Ford — Premier's daughter with no healthcare background — hired at publicly funded Runnymede Healthcare Centre at $128,052
Jan 1, 2022 — Carmine Nigro and his wife are seated at Premier Ford's own table at a Ford family wedding reception
2021
Nov 22, 2021 — Auditor General finds 6,000%+ increase in permits to harm endangered species; ministry never denied a single permit application
Nov 22, 2021 — Auditor General finds 6,000%+ increase in permits to harm endangered species; province never denied a single permit application
Oct 1, 2021 — Ford government launches Justice Accelerated strategy with $72M — but legal community says resources are not reaching frontlines
Sep 29, 2021 — Ontario lifts vaccine passport
Aug 12, 2021 — Court of Appeal upholds Student Choice Initiative ruling; Ford ordered to pay $20K in costs
Jul 1, 2021 — Ford lifts Liberal moratorium on new water bottling permits; grants BlueTriton 4.7M L/day
Jun 14, 2021 — Bill 307: Ford pre-emptively invokes notwithstanding clause on election advertising limits
Jun 1, 2021 — Bill 257: Ford exempts MZOs from provincial planning laws and environmental protections
Jun 1, 2021 — Metrolinx begins expropriating 35.5 acres of Union Station air rights for GO Expansion — pays CN Railway and Toronto Terminals Railway $78.7M
Jun 1, 2021 — Ford signs 95-year lease with Therme Group for private waterpark at Ontario Place — no competitive tender
Apr 30, 2021 — Long-Term Care Commission final report: government failures contributed to deaths
Apr 19, 2021 — Washington Post calls for Ford resignation — article becomes site's most-read; police carding powers reversed after 72 hours
Apr 16, 2021 — Ford closes outdoor playgrounds and grants police power to stop anyone outside — both reversed within days under national backlash
Apr 7, 2021 — Third COVID lockdown

Apr 3, 2021

Highway 413 / Bradford Bypass

Ford revived two cancelled highway megaprojects — the $8.6–12 billion Highway 413 and the $2–4 billion Bradford Bypass — despite independent studies showing negligible traffic benefits. Developers who own thousands of acres along both routes donated over $800,000 to Ford's PCs. Both projects were shielded from meaningful federal environmental review.

3 legal actions
Apr 3, 2021 — Investigation: Developers with $813K+ in PC donations own land along Hwy 413
Apr 1, 2021 — ORCA Project announced: Craft, Kingsmen, and Fengate plan nine condo towers over Union Station rail corridor

Feb 16, 2021

Minister's Zoning Orders (MZOs)

Ford's government issued more Minister's Zoning Orders (MZOs) in 2020 alone than the McGuinty and Wynne governments combined over 15 years — bypassing environmental reviews, municipal authority, and public consultation. Nearly half of all MZOs issued in Ford's first term benefited PC donors or party insiders. Key recipients include the DeGasperis family and Flato Developments, who received nine MZOs for thousands of homes on protected farmland.

2 legal actions
Feb 16, 2021 — Investigation: Half of Ford's MZOs benefit PC donors or party insiders
Feb 1, 2021 — Laurentian University files for insolvency — first public university bankruptcy in Canadian history
2020
Dec 31, 2020 — Ford issues 33 MZOs in 2020 alone — more than Liberals issued in 15 years
Nov 23, 2020 — Second COVID lockdown

May 26, 2020

Long-Term Care COVID Deaths

3,758 Ontario long-term care residents died of COVID-19 — many from neglect, not the virus itself. Ford's government had promised to fix the chronically understaffed, underfunded sector before the pandemic, did nothing, had no emergency plan when outbreaks began, delayed calling in the military, and then shielded the for-profit operators responsible from any legal accountability.

3 legal actions
Apr 14, 2020 — Military deployed to LTC homes; documents "horrific" conditions under Ford's watch
Mar 17, 2020 — Ontario declares COVID emergency
Jan 25, 2020 — First COVID case in Canada
2019
Dec 1, 2019 — Auditor General reveals anti-carbon tax campaign cost $4 million and would have been rejected as partisan
Dec 1, 2019 — Ford government enables speed cameras
Nov 21, 2019 — Ontario court unanimously strikes down Ford's Student Choice Initiative
Nov 7, 2019 — Bill 124 passed — caps 780,000 public sector workers' wages at 1% for 3 years
Oct 28, 2019 — Legislature returns after 5-month recess — longest break in 25 years
Sep 1, 2019 — Ontario's chief justices warn Legal Aid cuts will increase court delays; Auditor General recommends tracking reasons for stayed charges — Ministry refuses
Jun 19, 2019 — 416 Ontario health agency workers laid off in a single day as Ford merges agencies into Ontario Health
Jun 1, 2019 — Ford government elected; logging and aggregate exemptions added to Endangered Species Act
Jun 1, 2019 — Ford revives Highway 413 and Bradford Bypass, both cancelled by Liberals
May 1, 2019 — Ford government eliminates GREO, Ontario's only independent gambling research body, while planning iGaming expansion
Apr 30, 2019 — Ford Abolishes Independent Child and Youth Advocate Office
Apr 19, 2019 — Ford launches anti-carbon tax ads; Treasury Board President Bethlenfalvy refuses to disclose cost
Apr 15, 2019 — Ford officially cancels ticket resale cap in provincial budget, minister calls it "a nice soundbite"
Apr 11, 2019 — Ford's 2019 budget slashes $200M from public health, plans to cut health units from 35 to 10
Apr 11, 2019 — Ford's first budget cuts $550M/year from affordable housing and homelessness prevention
Apr 1, 2019 — Ford government cuts Legal Aid Ontario by $133 million (30%) with no advance notice — Ontario's three chief justices publicly criticize the cuts
Mar 20, 2019 — Taverner withdraws from OPP Commissioner role amid ongoing scrutiny
Feb 1, 2019 — Ford boasts: "I'm the only premier in history that refuses to use the premier's plane" — sells Ontario's King Air turboprops (approx.)
Feb 1, 2019 — Integrity Commissioner opens investigation into Taverner appointment
Jan 17, 2019 — Ford cuts OSAP by $670M — 24,000 students lose grants; free tuition for low-income families eliminated
2018
Dec 11, 2018 — Ford appoints personal friend Ron Taverner as OPP Commissioner

Nov 20, 2018

Ron Taverner OPP Appointment

Within months of taking office, Doug Ford tried to install his personal friend and longtime family confidant as Ontario's top cop — quietly lowering the job qualifications to fit him, corrupting the hiring process through his own chief of staff, and spending $40,000 on an executive search that was effectively rigged from the start.

2 legal actions
Nov 15, 2018 — Ford promises "not to touch" the Greenbelt
Oct 23, 2018 — Ford passes Bill 47, freezing Ontario minimum wage at $14/hr — cancelling scheduled $15/hr increase — directly benefiting Loblaws and grocery giants
Sep 22, 2018 — Ford photographed with white nationalist Faith Goldy; refuses to denounce her by name
Sep 13, 2018 — Ford recalls legislature; Court of Appeal stays lower court ruling before Section 33 needed

Sep 10, 2018

Ford Government's Use of the Notwithstanding Clause

Doug Ford's government has invoked or threatened the notwithstanding clause three times — more than any Ontario premier in history. In 2018, Ford threatened to override a court ruling that his mid-election Toronto council cuts were unconstitutional. In 2021, he pre-emptively buried an election advertising law inside Section 33 to shield it from Charter challenge. In 2022, he used the clause against 55,000 education workers before a single strike vote was held — the first time any Canadian government had invoked Section 33 against labour rights. Workers struck anyway. Ford backed down in four days. The clause is meant to be a mechanism of last resort for democratically exceptional circumstances. Ford has treated it as a first-response tool for policy he expects courts to reject.

4 legal actions
Sep 10, 2018 — Court strikes down Toronto ward cuts — Ford threatens notwithstanding clause
Sep 1, 2018 — Craft Kingsmen Rail (East) Corp. signs $78.7M agreement to purchase 35.5 acres of Union Station air rights — deal deferred twice, never completed
Aug 14, 2018 — Ford meets Loblaws CEO Galen Weston weeks after Weston publicly warns minimum wage increases cost Loblaws millions
Jul 3, 2018 — Ford suspends ticket resale price cap days after it takes effect — Ticketmaster calls it "rational"
Jun 7, 2018 — Ford elected on promise to restore advertising rules — promise quietly abandoned after taking power
Jun 7, 2018 — Ford elected Premier
Apr 15, 2018 — Ford appoints Rebel Media host who defended Holocaust denial as PC candidate

Apr 1, 2018

PC Far-Right Connections — Ghamari, Lawton, Goldy, Hillier

A documented pattern of Ontario PC associations with far-right figures: Ford personally appointed a Rebel Media host who defended Holocaust denial as a candidate (2018), posed for a photo with known white nationalist Faith Goldy and refused to denounce her by name for two days (2018), maintained a former MPP with documented Diagolon neo-fascist ties in his caucus until 2019 (Randy Hillier), and in June 2024 ejected MPP Goldie Ghamari after she publicized a meeting with Tommy Robinson — founder of the English Defence League — after months of documented Islamophobia within caucus.

3 legal actions
2017
Jan 1, 2017 — Liberal government passes Ticket Sales Act with 50% resale price cap
2015
Jan 1, 2015 — Wynne Liberals gut Government Advertising Act — Auditor General loses authority to block partisan ads
2013
Oct 1, 2013 — Sandro Lisi charged with extortion over Rob Ford crack video; Doug Ford claims he never knew him
May 25, 2013 — Globe and Mail: ten sources describe Doug Ford as a mid-level hash dealer in 1980s Etobicoke
Jan 1, 2013 — Craft Development begins acquiring air rights above the downtown Toronto rail corridor from CN Railway
2004
Jan 1, 2004 — Ontario's Government Advertising Act establishes partisan ad ban with Auditor General veto power