The Ford government’s contempt for Ontario’s judiciary, laws and its citizens

As democratic institutions are increasingly being undermined, both globally and nationally, a damaging, systematic pattern is unfolding in Ontario.

Courts are fundamental to democracy as they judicially review challenges to legislation to protect our rights and, critically, to hold governments to account. 

The Premier of Ontario has earned rebukes from judges and lawyers for politicizing the selection of Ontario’s Chief Justice and musing that judges are ideologically driven and should thus be elected to – absurdly – adhere to his own ideology.

Unfortunately, the Premier’s contempt goes beyond musings, manifesting itself in an inappropriate pattern of government actions to evade judicial review. Egregiously, the Government just passed legislation to retroactively exempt the Premier and Ministers from the Freedom of Information Act – shielding the Premier’s refusal to comply with orders by the Integrity and Privacy Commissioner and the Ontario Divisional Court that he provide access to his personal cell phone records. 

Other manoeuvres to avoid judicial review include repealing laws being challenged in court, retroactively exempting government initiatives from a law (or amending said law) subject of an ongoing court challenge, removing appeal rights altogether, or simply using draconian approaches like Bill 5 where any law can be suspended in “Special Economic Zones”.

For instance, in 2021, the government amended the Planning Act to state that Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZOs) do not—and never did—need to comply with the Provincial Policy Statement, a move specifically designed to derail an ongoing court challenge of an MZO that failed to protect a “provincially significant” wetland.

In 2023 it was the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act – which exempted the redevelopment of Ontario Place and the controversial Therme Spa from the Environmental Assessment Act, the Ontario Heritage Act and the Environmental Bill of Rights. This pulled the rug out from under an ongoing legal challenge alleging the redevelopment did not comply with these acts.

In 2025, the Government repealed provisions in the Cap and Trade Cancellation Act to remove the requirement to set greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. This was a transparent effort to thwart an ongoing legal challenge by a group of young people – who won a major procedural victory at the Court of Appeal to have their case heard – and despite the Supreme Court of Canada declining to hear the province’s appeal of that decision.

And only several weeks ago the Government declared its intention to make the Toronto Island Airport a “Special Economic Zone” where all laws can be suspended – a tactic even more contemptible as it is a conscious, premeditated scheme – rather than a reactive, retroactive one as in the above cases.

Governments clearly should not change laws to derail ongoing legal challenges as this removes government accountability, disrespects the separation of legislative and judicial functions, and undermines democratic frameworks and public trust. In short, governments should not be able to break laws and then evade challenge by simply changing a law to say it never applied in the first place.

As lawyers for the youth led climate plan challenge stated, “The timing of these ‘amendments’ is not coincidental. This latest tactic is part of a broader pattern by the Ford government of dodging accountability.”

Fortunately, people are not taking this highly inappropriate and increasingly anti-democratic behaviour lying down. They are – ironically – turning to the courts. 

The Ontario Place Protectors recently won – over Ontario’s objections - the right to have their legal challenge heard by the Supreme Court of Canada. Ecojustice – on behalf of several groups – including Democracy for All and Environmental Defence – has launched a constitutional challenge of Special Economic Zones. Meanwhile, lawyers for the youth climate change case are heading back to the Court of Appeal to continue their challenge.

As the old adage goes, once is a mistake, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern–and in Ontario it is a pattern of inappropriate, unacceptable and authoritarian behaviour that weakens government accountability and our democracy.

Victor Doyle is the former provincial Manager of Planning for Central Ontario and Lead Planner of the Greenbelt Plan.