Ex-Postmedia CEO Alleges Ford's Office Used Keel Contract as 'Leverage' for Pre-Election Letter

This is an allegation, and it is denied. Former Postmedia CEO and chairman Paul Godfrey alleges, in a sworn declaration published by The Trillium on Oct 6, 2026, that Premier Doug Ford's office used its "leverage" over Keel Digital Solutions to get Postmedia to publish a letter from Ford to voters on the eve of the 2025 election campaign. The premier's office told The Trillium the claims are "categorically untrue and completely disconnected from reality," adding that the premier "regularly contributes op-eds to a range of leading publications." Postmedia said that "No commercial consideration would ever be required for the Premier, or any political figure, to share their opinion in our editorial pages."

The source matters. Paul Godfrey is the father of Rob Godfrey, CEO of Keel Digital. The province sued Keel in January 2026, alleging it defrauded the province by claiming an inflated number of counselling sessions; Keel denies this and has countersued for more than $100 million. On Monday, Oct 5, 2026, an Ontario Superior Court judge put Keel into receivership on an application by its lender, National Bank. Rob Godfrey gave the declaration to The Trillium the next day. Postmedia noted that Paul Godfrey "had no affiliation with Postmedia during the last provincial election," and said it has "no knowledge of the background events described by Mr. Godfrey." Sackville did not respond to The Trillium's request for comment.

What the declaration alleges: on Jan 22, 2025, Rob Godfrey told his father that Patrick Sackville, then Ford's chief of staff, would approve Keel's proposal for a new three-year agreement with the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, but that "in the meantime, the Premier needed a favour from Postmedia." The favour, Paul Godfrey alleges, was to publish a letter to voters in all Ontario Postmedia newspapers before Ford officially called the election (he did so on Jan 28, 2025, for a Feb 27 vote). "It was understood that… if Postmedia did not print the letter to voters that Mr. Sackville would not be motivated to take the steps to ensure the three-year proposal was approved," the declaration says. Godfrey alleges that on Jan 24, 2025, two Postmedia executives agreed the letter would run, and that after the election Ford thanked him and said "it couldn't have been done without Postmedia's help at the outset of the election."

Postmedia's account is different. It says members of the premier's office reached out to its CEO "to explore the potential of publishing an opinion editorial from the Premier explaining his rationale for calling an election earlier than scheduled," and that he "passed it onto our editorial team for consideration." Whether a letter or op-ed from Ford actually ran in Postmedia papers in January 2025 has not been independently verified. None of the declaration's claims have been tested in court or by police.

An earlier, narrower version of the contract claim is already in a court pleading. In February 2026, the Toronto Star reported that Keel's statement of defence and counterclaim alleged that in January 2025 Sackville "expressly represented" to Rob Godfrey that an expanded three-year contract would be approved through the Treasury Board Secretariat as part of the Fall Economic Statement, after a forensic audit concluded. It also alleged that unnamed "senior political officials" used those representations to "extract concessions and favours" beyond Keel's contractual obligations. The Star story does not mention Postmedia or any letter. It corroborates only that Keel pleaded the Sackville contract promise; those claims are also untested.

The province's response to that pleading, as reported by the Star, was that "any alleged conversation referenced in the document came before the concerning results of the forensic audit were known, the results of which were immediately referred to the Ontario Provincial Police."

According to The Trillium, Paul Godfrey's declaration had previously been given to the OPP as part of its criminal investigation into Keel, which began after the province forwarded the findings of an internal audit of one ministry's payments to the company. The OPP told The Trillium in the week of Oct 5, 2026 that the investigation is ongoing.

Keel's dispute with the province is tied to the Skills Development Fund scandal: Keel received SDF grants, though The Trillium reports that most of what the province paid it came from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, and about $2.5 million of the province's lawsuit relates to the SDF. In a public statement on Oct 6, Rob Godfrey called Keel a "scapegoat" for the SDF controversy and said "the province will lose and lose big." The premier's office said Keel "repeatedly failed to meet the terms of its transfer agreement."