QUEEN’S PARK — Ontario Liberal Interim Leader John Fraser is demanding answers after a sworn declaration alleged that the Premier’s Office used a provincial contract as leverage to get Doug Ford’s letter to voters published in Postmedia’s Ontario newspapers before the 2025 election. 

Former Postmedia CEO Paul Godfrey alleges that Ford’s then-chief of staff, Patrick Sackville, told his son, Keel Digital CEO Rob Godfrey, that he would approve a new three-year agreement with the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, but that in the meantime the Premier needed a favour from Postmedia. Godfrey also alleges that Ford later thanked him and said the election win couldn’t have happened without Postmedia’s help.

The government has since accused Keel of defrauding taxpayers, is suing the company, and sent its audit findings to the OPP.

“These are serious allegations: that a taxpayer-funded contract was used as a bargaining chip to secure a political favour meant to influence an election,” said Fraser. “If true, it offers a window into how Doug Ford and the Ontario PCs are running this province: quid pro quos, backroom deals, and Ontarians’ hard-earned dollars wielded for pure political gain instead of better public services.

“Yesterday, we were asking how hundreds of millions in OSAP funding flowed to a handful of private career colleges despite years of warnings. Today, it’s a sworn declaration alleging the Premier’s Office used an agreement with that same ministry as political leverage.

“Public contracts should be awarded on merit, not on whether they help Doug Ford win an election. Ontarians deserve to know whether the Premier’s Office treats taxpayer dollars as political currency.”