Ontario Removes Paul Godfrey From Order of Ontario Council

Ontario has removed former Postmedia chairman Paul Godfrey from the advisory council to the Order of Ontario. The province confirmed he is no longer on the council, The Globe and Mail reported Oct. 9, 2026.

The government said Godfrey was removed because of "false public claims," according to CityNews. The statement offered no further detail.

The removal came days after Godfrey accused Premier Doug Ford's office of linking a government contract to political help. Godfrey alleged he felt pressured to ask Postmedia to print an op-ed by Ford before last year's snap provincial election. In return, he said, the office would help speed approval of a new three-year government contract for Keel Digital Solutions Corp.

Both the Premier's Office and Postmedia have denied the allegation. Neither accepts Godfrey's account of an exchange involving news coverage and contract approval.

Keel Digital Solutions Corp. is chaired by Godfrey's son, Rob Godfrey. The company faces an Ontario Provincial Police probe and was put into receivership over unpaid debts. Receivership is a court-supervised process for a business that cannot pay its debts.

Godfrey is 87 and described as a longtime Progressive Conservative. He is a member of both the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada.

He was appointed to the advisory council on Oct. 3, 2024, to a part-time position. His term was scheduled to end on Oct. 2, 2027. The council has nine members.

The council reviews nominees and recommends those with the greatest merit for the Order of Ontario, the province's highest civilian honour, to the Lieutenant Governor in Council. That phrase means cabinet acting in a formal legal role, according to Ontario.ca.

Eligibility rules require nominees to be long-term or former Ontario residents. They do not need to be Canadian citizens. They must be living at the time of nomination. Posthumous appointment is not allowed unless death occurs after the advisory council's recommendation for appointment.

Nominations close March 31 each year. The province states its nomination portal for the 2026 Order of Ontario is closed and is expected to open for 2027 nominations in late 2026.

The broader context here is the structural vulnerability of honours advisory bodies to political dispute. Council members use independent judgment on merit, but they hold their seats through orders-in-council, or formal cabinet orders. When a member makes a public allegation against the government of the day, the government keeps the legal power to end the appointment. That power exists whether the underlying allegation is later sustained or denied.

In my view, the episode will be watched less for its effect on this year's honours list than for what it signals about Queen's Park appointments. Governments rely on former partisans, business figures and civic leaders to staff agencies, boards and commissions. Those appointees are expected to keep deliberations confidential and to avoid public confrontation with ministers and their staff. Once that convention breaks, removal becomes administratively straightforward and politically costly at the same time. It settles the immediate personnel question while inviting further scrutiny of the original allegation, which in this case touches on two sensitive areas: editorial independence at a major newspaper chain and procurement for a firm now under police investigation and in receivership.