Government says naming ministers whose vehicles sped would reveal ‘travel habits’

Naming the cabinet ministers whose vehicles were clocked by cameras breaking the speed limit would violate their personal privacy and reveal ministerial “travel habits,” the Ford government is arguing.

Freedom of information documents obtained by Global News in October revealed vehicles registered to Doug Ford’s cabinet were caught speeding 23 times over three years, racking up more than $3,300 in fines.

Those records — which showed one minister’s vehicle had been recorded going 70 km/h in a 40 zone — redacted the names of the ministers whose vehicles were caught by the cameras.

Now, government lawyers are fighting to keep the names of those ministers secret, arguing that speeding in an official vehicle is fundamentally personal in nature.

“Although persons other than ministers may have been driving the vehicles, the records still reveal information of a personal nature about the ministers — specifically, their travel habits,” the government wrote in arguments submitted to the Information and Privacy Commission (IPC)

“It reveals information and identifiable patterns such as: travel conduct, patterns in such conduct, commuting hours, and potentially driving habits and conduct (such as repeated instances of speeding).”

The government also argued that the IPC has previously ruled records relating to someone’s “criminal history” are personal and not to be made public.

“In this case, as noted, the records link violations of law and potential violations of law to ministers and, as such, may reveal parts of identifiable persons’ criminal history or driving practices,” they argued.

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the government should publish which ministers’ vehicles had been caught speeding because the provincial offences tickets were handed to publicly-funded cars.

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“It’s a perk of the office, it is something that is given to them to make their lives easier in the work that they do and the business they conduct,” she said.

Government lawyers also worried that revealing which ministers were responsible for speeding vehicles could harm their reputations — something they said would be unfair if the ministers hadn’t been driving.

“The release of the records could lead to the drawing of negative inferences concerning ministers’ travel and driving habits,” the government wrote.

“Because ministers are public figures, and are accountable for the vehicles in question, it is likely that negative inferences would be drawn about them, harming their reputation if the records were released.”

Stiles said not revealing the names creates the impression of a double standard.

“What bothers me here is that if this is a problem, if they’re so worried, if the premier is so concerned that his ministers are going to be looked at negatively because they’ve broken rules, broken the law, sped a lot, then maybe the actual speeding is the issue he should be more concerned about,” she added.

“Because at the end of the day, people out there are expected to follow the rules. Once again, it looks like Doug Ford expects his own ministers to live by a totally different set of rules, like it’s outrageous.”

Many senior politicians are driven by staff, and their vehicles are sometimes used by staff without them being inside.

The government did not address questions over whether it was staff or ministers who were driving on the 23 occasions that the vehicles were clocked speeding.

“Drivers are expected to always operate OPS vehicles safely, ensuring they comply with traffic and parking laws as well as licensing requirements,” a brief statement said.

The records obtained by Global News included a range of speeding offences involving cabinet minister vehicles.

The fastest speed the vehicles were recorded going was 30 km/h over the limit, and the lowest speed was 11 km/h over the limit. On average, the government vehicles were snapped 17 km/h above the limit, with the average cost of the tickets $144.

Ontario Liberal MPP Stephanie Smyth said the case was simple: the province should publish the names.

“If these records relate to government vehicles and the conduct of public office, there is a clear public interest in transparency,” she said in a statement.

“The possibility that disclosure could be politically embarrassing is not a valid reason to withhold information. Ontarians deserve confidence that public officials are being held to the same standards as everyone else, and openness is how that confidence is built.”

The premier previously explained that all fines had been paid back by the ministers themselves.

The revelations about the speed of cabinet ministers’ vehicles were first published as the government announced it would ban automated speed enforcement.

Ford has complained that the speed cameras are too sensitive, issuing tickets for minor infractions.

“I’ll use the stats just in Toronto because I know 32,000 tickets for going two kilometres over, four kilometres over, sometimes 10, 15 kilometres over — in three months,” the premier previously said.

None of the tickets given to minister vehicles were going less than 11 km/h over the limit, and the average speed of 17 was also above Ford’s example.

Early data from the City of Toronto since the cameras were banned has linked removing them to an increase in speeding.

Global News’ appeal to reveal the names of the ministers whose vehicles were caught speeding is ongoing.