Former employees of the Ford government have provided emails from their personal accounts regarding the Greenbelt and drafting mandate letters, as revealed by Global News. This action was taken after the Information and Privacy Commissioner instructed them to search their accounts for communications related to official government matters.
One of the former premier’s executive assistants was among those who found emails they had previously not disclosed. He shared an email from a developer concerning the Greenbelt.
These emails, submitted to the Ontario NDP as part of a freedom of information appeal, show that a developer expressed gratitude to Ford’s executive assistant for helping with their “Greenbelt glitch.”
The email was dated July 4, 2022, shortly after the housing minister at the time, Steve Clark, received a mandate letter from Ford tasking him with defining processes for Greenbelt swaps, expansions, contractions, and policy updates.
A spokesperson from the premier’s office defended the discovery of these emails.
“At the request of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, and as a precaution, our office contacted former staff members to verify any records they may have had on personal accounts,” they stated.
“Draft Records related to the broad policy proposal were created during a transition period immediately following the election. Final versions of those records have been previously identified in this request, and relevant portions have been released publicly.”
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles suggested that the use of personal accounts was a deliberate attempt to hide communications.
“We have found a pattern where top political staffers in the premier’s office are making it difficult, concealing information, and storing emails in private accounts to circumvent laws that guarantee people the right to information,” she remarked.
“The extent to which they have tried to conceal this is shocking.”
Greenbelt email incident
One of the emails found in a personal account concerned Sergio Manchia, the principal of Urbancore Developments.
He had been lobbying the province for nearly 20 years to exclude a four-hectare piece of land in Hamilton from the Greenbelt.
In the summer of 2022, the effort to convert the property into residential land gained urgency upon learning of potential Greenbelt changes by the Ford government.
“We were anticipating an announcement,” Manchia recalled during the Greenbelt investigation conducted by Ontario’s integrity commissioner.
As news of the impending land changes spread, Manchia emailed two members of Ford’s office on July 4 and 5, 2022: Ford’s former executive assistant and the ex-executive director of stakeholder relations.
Both communications were made using their personal email addresses.
In one email, Manchia thanked the two staffers and sought guidance on the next steps.
Following these emails, as per the integrity commissioner’s report, Manchia and his team engaged in phone calls with senior Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing staff. They later participated in face-to-face meetings to discuss the property directly.
Manchia then purchased tickets to a wedding fundraiser held in the Ford family’s backyard in August 2022, attended by individuals linked to the Greenbelt controversy, as disclosed by the integrity commissioner.
Ford stated to the integrity commissioner that he had no memory of meeting Manchia or discussing the Greenbelt property.
“The only record related to a specific property was sent to an individual uninvolved in this matter concerning a removal proposal with longstanding support from the local municipality, including a letter from the former Hamilton mayor and a council resolution,” the premier’s office clarified.
Manchia did not respond to Global News inquiries prior to publication.
Use of personal email for drafting mandate letters
The Greenbelt email was not the only official communication found on former staffers’ personal email accounts.
A few documents were provided to the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) after 15 ex-members of the premier’s office were directed to search their private email accounts and devices for Greenbelt-related records.
“Seventeen records were discovered,” noted the IPC in a letter sent to the NDP and shared with Global News.
Among these were 16 “draft versions” of the 2022 mandate letters that Ford would later present to his cabinet ministers, outlining directives and expectations as formulated by the premier’s office.
The records consisted of “draft versions of slides” and the “final slide deck” of mandate letters — official government documents being drafted on private email servers.
The emails found by former staffers were related to the Greenbelt in some manner, though it remains unclear if there were other government emails on those accounts unrelated to the Greenbelt.
The premier’s office confirmed that all 15 staff members did not locate records but did not specify how many discovered messages.
The IPC noted that the Manchia emails were “found by a former premier’s office staff member in his personal email account.”
The staffer stated he “did not remember receiving the emails” and was unsure how the developer obtained his personal email account.
The IPC office added that the staffer confirmed he did not initiate, reply to, or forward the emails.
“The staff member also verified that he had no discussions or communications with the developer or anyone on the developer’s behalf regarding the emails or their content,” as per the IPC office.
Consistent use of personal devices
The findings exposed by the NDP are part of a series of instances where Ford government staff seem to be using personal phones and email accounts for communication.
Recently, Premier Ford was instructed to produce records from his personal device, which the IPC believes he used for government affairs. The province is presently appealing this decision, seeking a judicial review.
“This is clearly a deliberate pattern by the government to evade the law,” Stiles remarked. “There is an ongoing RCMP criminal investigation, and I anticipate eventual revelations. Meanwhile, Ontarians deserve to know the full story.”
Additionally, Ford’s chief of staff lost months’ worth of government-related texts on his personal phone and utilized his Gmail account for government policy planning.
“These are the highest-ranking political staff in the premier’s office,” Stiles emphasized. “There is no way the premier was unaware of these activities.”
The former housing minister’s chief of staff has also been directed to search his personal account for Greenbelt-related emails. He must either provide them or affirm under oath that they do not exist.
