Ford’s Cuts and Cover-Ups Spark Widespread Protests 

Hundreds rally in more than 50 cities demanding an end to student aid slashes, hospital underfunding, and new secrecy laws shielding the premier’s records. 

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Ontario residents delivered a sharp rebuke to Premier Doug Ford on April 25. Roughly 55 coordinated rallies erupted across the province, from Toronto’s Queen’s Park to Ottawa, Hamilton, Sudbury, Windsor, Waterloo, Guelph, Brantford and dozens of smaller communities. Protesters accused Ford of prioritizing cronyism over public good while slashing support for students and gutting health care.

The “Fight Ford” demonstrations, organized through protestdougford.com, drew hundreds in major cities and modest but determined crowds elsewhere. At Queen’s Park, chants targeted everything from airport jets to demands for a no-confidence vote. In Ottawa, over 150 gathered at the human-rights monument. Signs across sites linked Ford’s record to failing democracy, crumbling services and favoritism toward wealthy insiders.

Core demands zeroed in on three damning failures. First, the government slashed Ontario Student Assistance Program grants after federal tweaks removed eligibility for students at private career colleges. Critics rightly call this a direct attack on working-class youth that blocks access to postsecondary education and saddles families with debt. Second, Ford rammed through sweeping freedom-of-information changes in the spring budget bill. The amendments, granted royal assent on April 25, shield the premier, cabinet ministers and staff from disclosing emails, texts and phone records. They apply retroactively to 1988 and override court orders, including those seeking Ford’s cellphone logs. This is not reform. It is a brazen cover-up designed to hide accountability.

Third, and most damning, protesters condemned chronic underfunding of public hospitals. While facilities teeter on deficit and slash staffing, the province funnels hundreds of millions into for-profit surgical clinics. Emergency waits grow longer. Patients suffer. Families watch loved ones deteriorate. In Waterloo, Andrea Pentz spoke for many when she expressed fear that adequate care will vanish when she needs it most. NDP Leader Marit Stiles captured the outrage: Ontario must put patients and people ahead of profits.

The rallies revived deeper accusations of cronyism. Organizers highlighted Ford’s protection of records tied to the still-active RCMP investigation into the Greenbelt land-swap scandal, along with luxury jet purchases and other flip-flops that smell of self-dealing. Fight Ford organizer Amanda Brown in Ottawa put it plainly: “We want our province back because we’re sick of getting thrown to the wayside so Ford can make his friends rich.”

Ford’s office stayed silent on the protests. A Finance Ministry spokesperson defended the budget as necessary streamlining supposedly endorsed by voters. Yet the omnibus bill bypassed meaningful public hearings, and the retroactive secrecy provisions reveal a government far more concerned with shielding itself than serving Ontarians.

These April 25 actions expose a premier who has grown comfortable weakening oversight while starving essential services. Health care cuts leave hospitals gasping. Student aid reductions punish the next generation. Secrecy laws protect the powerful. Across Ontario the message rang clear: Ford’s pattern of cronyism and neglect has fueled genuine public anger. Whether this frustration forces real change at the ballot box remains uncertain, but the growing discontent can no longer be dismissed or ignored. 

BACKGROUNDER

Doug Ford’s “secrecy laws” refer to controversial amendments to Ontario’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) passed in April 2026 as part of the provincial government’s omnibus spring budget bill. What the changes doBill 97 (Plan to Protect Ontario Act – Budget Measures, 2026) adds a new subsection 65(18) to FIPPA. It completely removes records held by:

• the Premier’s Office,
• cabinet ministers and parliamentary assistants,
• and all political staff in those offices

from the scope of freedom-of-information requests. This covers emails, texts, phone records, notes, and any other documents created while conducting government business. The exemption is retroactive to 1988. Any existing FOI requests or ongoing legal proceedings for these records are now invalid. The law also overrides court orders, including a January 2025 Divisional Court ruling that required Premier Ford to produce government-related call logs from his personal cellphone. 

Why it happened

The trigger was a long-running FOI request filed by Global News in 2023. Ford had publicly shared his personal cellphone number for constituents, but used it for government business without an official device. After the court upheld the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s order to release the logs (with review for privacy), the government moved quickly to rewrite the rules rather than comply. The changes were tucked into the 2026 budget bill, fast-tracked through the legislature with late-night sittings, and passed without public hearings or committee review. Royal assent came in late April 2026. 

Government’s position

Premier Ford and his ministers defend the changes as:

• a necessary “modernization” of laws written before cellphones and email existed,
• protection of cabinet confidentiality,
• and a way to strengthen cybersecurity.

They argue the new rules simply bring Ontario in line with practices in other provinces and at the federal level. 

Criticism and fallout

The Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner strongly opposed the amendments, warning they would make Ontario less transparent than any other jurisdiction in Canada. Privacy safeguards that still apply to other government records no longer cover the premier and cabinet. Opposition parties, journalists, and transparency advocates called the move a deliberate cover-up. Critics point to:

• ongoing RCMP investigation into the Greenbelt land-swap scandal,
• other controversies involving government decision-making,
• and the timing — right after losing the cellphone-logs court battle. 

The changes became a flashpoint in the province-wide “Fight Ford” protests on April 25, 2026. Demonstrators in Toronto, Ottawa, and other cities carried signs demanding “Bring back FOI” and accused the government of shielding cronyism and insider dealings. 

What it means in practice

• Members of the public, journalists, and researchers can no longer use FOI to obtain records from the most senior political offices.
• Existing requests for these records (including the premier’s cellphone logs) are now dead.
• Ministries and agencies still have to respond to FOIs for other records, but processing times have also been lengthened in the same bill.

In short, the Ford government has legislated a broad new zone of secrecy at the very top of provincial power. Supporters see it as practical protection for confidential discussions; critics view it as a direct assault on accountability and a response to losing in court. The changes are now law.