Paul Godfrey removed from Order of Ontario advisory council amid allegations of political leverage

The Ontario government dismissed 87-year-old former Postmedia chairman Paul Godfrey from the nine-member advisory council that recommends nominees for the province’s highest civilian honour. The removal followed Godfrey’s public claim that Premier Doug Ford’s office had tried to use a pending extension of a government contract with Keel Digital Solutions Corp.—a company chaired by Godfrey’s son, Rob Godfrey—as political leverage.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

Paul Godfrey, a longtime Progressive Conservative and former Metro Toronto chairman (1973-84) and Toronto Blue Jays chief executive, was appointed to the advisory council in October 2024 for a three-year term. His son’s firm, Keel Digital, and its subsidiary Get A-Head, which runs an online mental-health counselling portal, have received roughly $40 million in payments from several Ontario ministries over the past five years. An OPP forensic audit of Get A-Head prompted a police investigation, and the province later sued the companies for “fraudulent misrepresentation,” seeking $25.7 million in repayments. Keel Digital was placed in receivership this week over unpaid debts. In a sworn statement released this week, Godfrey alleged that in January 2025 his son told him that Premier Doug Ford’s chief of staff, Patrick Sackville, agreed to accelerate approval of a three-year contract extension for Keel in exchange for publishing a Premier-authored op-ed in all Postmedia Ontario newspapers before the 2022 snap election.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

Ontario’s Citizenship and Multiculturalism Minister’s office said Godfrey’s accusations were false and that he had created a conflict of interest. Postmedia, which no longer employs Godfrey, said the Premier’s office approached the current CEO about the op-ed, that the editorial team independently decided to run it, and that no commercial consideration was involved. Godfrey reiterated his allegations in a media statement, describing the Premier’s request as an attempt to extract a benefit Keel could not provide.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

• “Mr. Godfrey has made false public claims and has put himself in a conflict of interest,” — Jaskarn Kailey

The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

• “I understood what this demand from the Premier’s office meant. This was using political leverage and power over a small company to extract a benefit that Keel had no ability to provide.” — Mr. Sackville

The Globe and Mail (Toronto)