A top adviser to Ontario Premier Doug Ford is facing questions about how he manages sensitive government records after swapping in his mobile phone without a full backup, Global News can reveal, meaning months of messages from text related to official government business are now considered “missing.” .”
The government has been involved in a months-long freedom of information appeal with Global News over text conversations between Ford chief of staff Patrick Sackville and Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster.
Verster’s records show intermittent text messages in the first half of 2023 between the two officials, ranging from advice to the government to Christmas greetings and emojis.
While Verster had presented his version of the digital conversations, as part of a freedom of information request, Sackville had no records of those same text messages.
Government lawyers later acknowledged that Sackville had been using his personal iPhone to communicate with Verster in text messages that Metrolinx privacy officials considered sensitive.
That phone, according to government lawyers, was not properly supported by Sackville and was traded in during December 2023 before being “reinstated” by a third-party provider.
As a result, months’ worth of texts (at least some of which represent government records) are now considered “missing data” and cannot be recovered, according to the province.
“When Mr. Sackville swapped his old device for a new one, the text messages physically stored on his old phone were not transferred to the new phone because they were not on Mr. Sackville’s iCloud account but physically on the old phone.” the government said in its submissions to the Information and Privacy Commissioner.
“Mr. Sackville advises that he did not know that all of the data on his phone would not be transferred and that he did not notice the missing data until much later after the transfer.”
The missing messages, which were lost when Sackville changed his phone in December 2023, also cover a period of time when multiple investigations into the government’s Greenbelt scandal were underway.
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the revelation was deeply concerning and raised questions about how much data and how many government conversations might have been missed.
“This is very serious: you’re not allowed to destroy government records like that, you’re not allowed, they’re supposed to be kept,” he said. “The cabinet office knows it, and the prime minister’s office surely knows it. “The chief of staff had to know.”
The prime minister’s office reiterated that the messages were lost by accident.
“This was an inadvertent error; however, it is important to note that the records in question are reflected in identical corresponding records,” a spokesperson for the prime minister’s office told Global News.
Metrolinx says texts included sensitive government and cabinet communications
Global News became aware of the missing messages from Sackville after filing identical freedom of information requests with the Ford government and Metrolinx for text messages and emails between Sackville and Verster from January to the end of July 2023.
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In response to the request, Verster provided pages of text conversations with Sackville.
The vast majority of Verster’s texts with Sackville were redacted because Metrolinx privacy officials deemed their contents to be government advice, Cabinet-related discussions, or attorney-client privilege. The publication of other texts could have harmed Ontario’s economic interests, officials said.
Phil Verster revealed text messages with Patrick Sackville, many of which were withheld due to their sensitivity.
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While Verster had pages of texts, Sackville revealed none.
The Cabinet Office, which handles privacy requests for the prime minister’s office, said the chief of staff was asked to search his phone for text messages, adding “that he has text messages with Mr. Verster that are prior to the specific period of this request”, but none for the first half of 2023.
Sackville, officials said, had “changed his phone in the last year” and, as a result, “the data he previously had was not transferred to the new phone.”
Initially, the government said it would “continue efforts to see if the data could be recovered,” but later admitted that “ITS staff concluded that there is no longer a way to recover text messages physically stored on the old device.”
Sackville phone was not fully backed up
The Cabinet Office confirmed that Sackville had been speaking to Verster about government matters using his personal phone, a device he was unable to make a full backup of and which he eventually exchanged.
After Global News lodged an appeal through the Information and Privacy Commission, Sackville was summoned to a meeting with senior IT officials and a government lawyer to find out how to “locate any missing data” on his phone.
Sackville said he had upgraded his phone in December 2023 and, as part of purchasing a new one, “the carrier transferred your existing data between your old iPhone and your new iPhone.”
However, when the transfer was made, Sackville’s iCloud account, used to back up data, was full and the text messages were not transferred. The government said all of Sackville’s text messages from January to July were not transferred from the old phone and are “missing.”
“ITS staff further advised that when an iCloud account reaches capacity, it cannot store additional information,” the government lawyers wrote.
“Consequently, ITS staff also confirmed that once an iPhone stops backing up data to iCloud, there is no way to recover it except from the sending or receiving phone.”
Patrick Sackville made reference to ministers in his texts that do not appear on his phone.
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The Cabinet Office said Sackville was “unaware” that his data, including at least six months of text messages, had not been transferred. He said he was “unaware of how the data would be transferred and expected all data to be transferred.”
The “missing data” also cannot be recovered from the original phone, according to the government, because Sackville returned his old device, which did not have a complete backup, to the company where he bought the new one.
“Mr. Sackville reports that he traded in his old iPhone with the carrier who transferred his account data from the old iPhone to the new one,” the government lawyers wrote.
“He subsequently asked the supplier if the old device could be recovered, but was informed that the phone would have been reset upon receipt and was not available for recovery.”
The government said Sackville had “no intention” for the texts not to be transferred and said the loss was “regrettable but involuntary” in its written submissions.
“Following the meeting with ITS staff, steps are also being taken to ensure Mr. Sackville’s iCloud backup account has expanded storage capacity to ensure data is backed up,” the government lawyers wrote.
Questions about “missing data”
Conversations not transferred from Sackville’s previous device, including his conversations with Verster, span from early 2023 to the summer of last year.
In early January 2023, the Ontario Provincial Police began conducting interviews related to the decision to remove land from the Green Belt to determine whether they would launch an investigation. The RCMP launched an investigation that is still ongoing.
Between March and August 2023, the province’s integrity commissioner conducted interviews, including with Sackville, that shaped his investigation into Greenbelt.
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“This covers a period, of course, that tracks the Greenbelt investigation that the RCMP is conducting, as well as many other scandals that the government has been involved in,” Marit Stiles told Global News.
The NDP leader said she was not convinced by Sackville and the government’s claim that the data was accidentally lost.
“Remember, Mr. Sackville was the prime minister’s chief of staff and it’s incredible that he didn’t know to keep those records,” Stiles said.
“And we also know from previous issues that we have all been investigating that Mr. Sackville regularly conducted government business on his personal device. So I think the fact that these records have disappeared seems probably intentional.”
Global News previously reported that Sackville used his private Gmail account for “political discussions,” including sharing documents, raising stakeholder concerns and drafting communication strategies.
“We know that Mr. Sackville conducted government business with his personal devices, he had to know not to get rid of them, that they would be destroyed that way,” Stiles said.
“Then you have to ask yourself: why did they have to disappear?”
Several questions submitted to Sackville and the prime minister’s office went unanswered because, the government said, the matter was before the information and privacy commissioner.
The IPC process relating to the Sackville texts was resolved days before the prime minister’s office responded.
