John Fraser
Ontario Liberal Party
John Fraser is the Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party and MPP for Ottawa South. He has been a vocal critic of the Ford government's FIPPA overhaul, arguing that the retroactive nature of the law change signals the government has something damaging to hide on its own devices.
Connected Scandals
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.
Fraser opposed Bill 97's FIPPA changes throughout the legislative process, calling for full public hearings that were denied. He stated that changing the law retroactively suggests "there must be something really bad on your cell phone." The Liberals promised to undo the changes if elected.
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.
Fraser introduced a private member's bill to ban personalized algorithmic pricing in Ontario in April 2026. He asked: "You're up late one night and you're Googling the symptoms your child has. Should the price of children's Advil be based on the fact that you search that? I don't think so." The Ford government declined to advance the legislation.
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.
Fraser called for the resignation of Solicitor General Michael Kerzner after Global News FOI documents contradicted Kerzner's repeated legislative assurances that all improperly released Ontario inmates had been caught immediately. He stated he had "no confidence" in the Solicitor General.
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario paid roughly $3,000 to send an operative to two Jamaican resorts in December 2023 to surveil newly elected Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie on a private vacation. Doug Ford said he learned of it only on August 12, 2026, did not approve of it, and then defended it as "politics."
Interim Ontario Liberal leader; called the surveillance operation "beyond inappropriate."
On August 20, 2026 the WSIB announced 466 job cuts and the closure of nine branch offices — Sudbury, Windsor, Thunder Bay, St. Catharines, Guelph, Sault Ste. Marie, Kingston, North Bay and Timmins — with a further 155 Waterloo positions to go within a year, and nearly 200 of the losses concentrated in northern Ontario. The cuts came 15 days after Treasury Board President Peter Bethlenfalvy ordered "efficiency and productivity" reviews of eight public agencies, WSIB included, with savings targets given to the agencies but never disclosed publicly.
Interim Liberal leader; critic of the government agency review process that preceded the WSIB cuts.
A decision note obtained by CBC News through a freedom of information request shows Premier Doug Ford's March 2026 trade trip to Texas cost taxpayers $93,179 — including a two-day "advance mission" to finalize logistics — while the document contained no breakdown of that figure and the premier's office did not provide one when CBC asked. Ford's expected meeting with Texas Governor Greg Abbott never happened.
As interim Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, Fraser called Ford's March 2026 Texas trade mission a "dog and pony show" after the freedom of information disclosure that it cost taxpayers $93,179. He said he would rather see the premier travel to Japan, India or Europe to diversify Ontario's trading partnerships.
A Toronto Star analysis of Elections Ontario filings found five Ontario cabinet ministers' riding associations spent a combined $356,312 on "meetings hosted" across 2024 and 2025, at venues including a sashimi restaurant, a tequila bar and an axe-throwing establishment. The money came from donations that qualify for provincial tax credits.
Liberal interim leader who said the filings read like "the lifestyles of the rich and famous. They're living pretty high off the hog," and that "whether it's donor money or taxpayer money, there are too many people using it as their personal piggy bank."
A StrategyCorp survey of 32 Ontario municipal Chief Administrative Officers, released ahead of the August 2026 AMO conference, found senior municipal staff describing a provincial government that "doesn't accept dissent" and punishes public disagreement. The same CAOs said municipalities and school boards are used as a political "shield" for unpopular changes the province itself mandates.
Interim Ontario Liberal leader; responded to the StrategyCorp CAO survey by saying "Doug Ford might look like a friendly 'hey folks' kind of guy, but don't cross him. That's what these CAOs are saying."