OPP leadership must be free of politicial suspicion

[Michael Jack]

Alok Mukherjee is a distinguished visiting professor at Ryerson University, and the co-author of Excessive Force: Toronto’s Fight to Reform City Policing. He was chair of the Toronto Police Services Board from 2005 to 2015.

The request by Toronto police Superintendent Ron Taverner, chosen to be the next Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner, to delay his swearing-in until the air had been cleared around the selection process, clears the ground to investigate the complaint by Deputy Commissioner Brad Blair.

What are the questions for this inquiry?

As chair of the Toronto Police Services Board, I was involved in the hiring of two police chiefs and numerous deputy chiefs for Canada’s largest municipal police force with a staff and budget only a little less than that of the OPP. Odgers Berndtson, the executive search firm involved in the OPP Commissioner’s selection, assisted us in searches for both chiefs and at least half a dozen deputy chiefs.

Looking at what transpired with the OPP position from that vantage point, several questions arise, beginning with the job call.

The Ontario government has admitted that it changed qualification requirements two days after the original posting. Sylvia Jones, the minister responsible, claimed that this was done to broaden the applicant pool. Premier Doug Ford said that Odgers Berndtson recommended the change. A spokesperson for the firm declined to comment to The Globe and Mail owing to confidentiality.

This is most unusual. Much thought, consultation and deliberation go into preparing a job call, especially for such a critical position. Who was involved in the conversation? Did Ms. Jones’s human-resources people provide expert advice?

Sometimes a job call is reissued with revised qualifications. This normally happens after the initial call has run its course and the response is unsatisfactory. How was it decided a mere two days after the position was posted that this job call had limited the applicant pool? Who made that decision? According to reports, the original call had elicited more than two dozen applications. And what was the exact role of Odgers Berndtson?

The specialized services of a firm such as Odgers are retained for specific purposes, all with the client’s direction and approval: to prepare an information package to advertise the position and, using its database, seek out potential candidates; to conduct preliminary screening and propose a long list; to assist in developing an interview process; and to facilitate the final decision. During its numerous engagements with the Toronto Police Services Board, the firm did not play any determinative role in that decision, though its representative offered feedback as an observer.

Decisions are made by the employer.

Mr. Ford has created much confusion about the role of Odgers in the selection process with his statements. This is a matter that cries for examination.

The interviews themselves are also an issue. The interview panel seems to have changed from one round to the next. The Premier’s Chief of Staff, Dean French, was initially a member and then withdrew. In what other parts of the process up to that point was he involved? Did he consult with, take direction from and provide regular updates to the Premier?

And what about the newly minted Deputy Minister, Mario Di Tommaso? He assumed his position only a few days before participating in the final round of interviews.

Who besides Mr. French and head of Ontario public service, Steve Orsini, participated in the process before Mr. Di Tommaso? What information was provided to help Mr. Di Tommaso take part in the final round?

But more importantly, did Mr. Di Tommaso obtain any legal advice about any potential conflict of interest on his part? He had been a colleague of Supt. Taverner as a superintendent and his junior in terms of years of service at the Toronto police. Later, promoted to staff superintendent, he became Supt. Taverner’s direct boss.

Then there is the final decision which is mired in much confusion. Appointing Supt. Taverner was solely and exclusively for the cabinet to decide based on recommendations of the interview panel comprised of Mr. Di Tommaso and Mr. Orsini.

On Nov. 28, reporters were expecting a decision at the full regular cabinet meeting. After the meeting, when asked by reporters, Ms. Jones said that no decision had been made.

Then on Nov. 29 the Order in Council, a public document, came out stating that the decision was “approved and ordered” on that date.

So what day was the decision made? And more importantly who was present to make that decision?

These queries need to be answered.

Which brings up the last question: the role of Mr. Ford.

He has insisted that he had absolutely nothing to do with Supt. Taverner’s selection. But two facts are well established.

He has not denied his close personal friendship with Supt. Taverner. And he has admitted his participation in the only decision that mattered, namely Supt. Taverner’s appointment by the cabinet.

Mr. Ford’s direct or indirect role at several points in the recruitment, selection and appointment process must be reviewed.

There is a smell permeating the manner in which Supt. Taverner was chosen to be the next head of one of the country’s most important police forces.

A narrow, limited review by the Integrity Commissioner will not remove it. A full inquiry will.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion ... clear-the/

[Michael Jack]

Premier Doug Ford skipped question period in the legislature for the third straight day as opposition parties raised more concerns about the appointment of his friend Ron Taverner to OPP commissioner.

“The premier has refused to answer basic questions in this house,” NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said, repeating calls for a full public inquiry into the controversial hiring as MPPs prepared to head off on their Christmas break.

“The people of Ontario need to have confidence in police and in the integrity of government.”

Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones said the continued pressure reminded her of the movie Groundhog Day and said the government is awaiting the results of an investigation by provincial integrity commissioner J. David Wake into whether Ford played a role in the hiring in contravention of the Members Integrity Act.

“I am awaiting the report,” said Jones, who insisted the process that resulted in the job offer to Taverner, 72, was “the same used in every previous OPP commissioner hiring.”

However, critics have pointed out that qualifications for the job leading Canada’s second-largest police force were lowered two days after the posting, allowing Taverner, a veteran Toronto police superintendent, to apply.

Horwath said Ford’s responses to Wake will be confidential and a full public inquiry is the best way to shed light on the hiring.

Jones accused the New Democrats of “trying to chase headlines.”

Interim Liberal leader John Fraser filed an affidavit to Wake asking for an opinion under section 30 of the Members Integrity Act as to whether the premier “used his office to seek to influence a decision made by the person or persons responsible for the process” to hire a new OPP boss.

Fraser asked that Wake specifically look into how the qualifications for the job were lowered and whether Ford “failed to disclose a conflict of interest and failed to withdraw” from a cabinet meeting where the Taverner appointment was approved.

“There should be no conflict of interest or even an appearance of conflict of interest involving the premier and the OPP commissioner’s appointment.”

Fraser also hand-delivered a letter to Attorney General Caroline Mulroney in the legislature asking her to appoint an “independent investigator” into the Taverner hiring, saying the scope of the Integrity commissioner’s probe is too narrow.

“Legislation limits the power of the Integrity Commissioner to investigate political staff like Mr. French and publicly disclose the findings,” he noted, referring to Ford’s chief of staff Dean French.

Taverner, who on Saturday asked his appointment to the OPP be “postponed” until Wade’s probe is completed, has returned to his Toronto police job heading three northwestern divisions that include the Ford family’s neighbourhood in Etobicoke.

Former RCMP commissioner Bob Paulson, among others, has warned Taverner is too closely linked to Ford to effectively lead the OPP, particularly if the force has to investigate the government — as happened under a previous Liberal regime with the scandal over deleted documents related to the close of two gas plants before the 2011 election.

That probe led to criminal charges and a conviction of former premier Dalton McGuinty’s chief of staff, David Livingston, who was sentenced to four months in jail. He is free on his own recognizance pending an appeal. McGuinty was not a subject of that investigation and co-operated with police.

Taverner has not replied to repeated requests for comment from the Toronto Star.

https://www.ourwindsor.ca/news-story/90 ... ntroversy/

[Michael Jack]

The province’s ethics watchdog is keeping a tight lid on his investigation into the Progressive Conservatives’ controversial appointment of Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner to head the OPP.

Integrity commissioner J. David Wake is looking into whether there was any political interference in the hiring of Taverner, a long-time family friend of Premier Doug Ford.

“The office will not comment on an ongoing inquiry. I can tell you that the inquiry is in progress. I do not have any information on timelines,” Michelle Renaud, a senior adviser in the commissioner’s office, said Tuesday.

The Tories appointed Taverner, 72, as Ontario Provincial Police commissioner last November.

But the posting triggered a firestorm of criticism because of the 51-year police veteran’s close relationship to the Ford family and concerns about the independence of the OPP, Canada’s second-largest force.

NDP MPP Kevin Yarde (Brampton North) formally requested Wake investigate the appointment.

Taverner, who did not return messages from the Star on Tuesday, voluntarily returned to his old job overseeing three police divisions in Etobicoke, while the integrity commissioner’s probe is ongoing.

While Ford insists he had nothing to do with his friend’s hiring, he has indicated he wants him to run the OPP.

“We look forward to having Ron Taverner as the commissioner of the OPP,” the premier said at his most recent new conference on Dec. 18.

“You look at his credentials, speaks for itself, 50 years of policing around the province. Again, he’s a front line police officer … a cop’s cop as they say. And that’s what is desperately needed at the OPP right now,” he said.

“There has never been a more popular police officer in this province than Ron Taverner.”

Ford, who has said he expects Wake’s review to take four to six weeks, added it was “a real shame” that the media “are chasing this gentleman down like I’ve never seen.”

Taverner’s most recent public comments on the controversy came Dec. 15.

“Out of the greatest respect for the brave men and women of the Ontario Provincial Police, I am requesting my appointment as commissioner be postponed,” the superintendent said.

His decision to delay the OPP move was welcomed by critics who questioned why qualification levels for the commissioner’s position were lowered two days after the job was posted.

That last-minute change to the threshold allowed Taverner to meet the criteria.

The New Democrats are hopeful Wake will use his authority to call for an independent public inquiry with open hearings.

Experts have warned Taverner’s appointment could raise questions about the OPP’s ability to conduct investigations into the provincial government — as the force did into deleted documents related to a previous Liberal administration’s closure of two gas-fired power plants.

That probe resulted in criminal charges and a conviction against a top political staffer.

Questions about potential conflicts of interest would always linger with Taverner as commissioner, retired RCMP commissioner Bob Paulson told the Star last month.

“Every investigation of the government is going to be tarred,” he added. “It just sounds like a mess.”

OPP Deputy Commissioner Brad Blair, who applied for the commissioner’s job, has also asked for a review of Taverner’s appointment and any “potential political interference.”

Blair is headed to court to force Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé to investigate the hiring.

Dubé’s office has declined to do so, insisting it is beyond his jurisdiction. Blair was serving as interim commissioner after the retirement of commissioner Vince Hawkes last fall. He has since been replaced by Gary Couture.

In Blair’s complaint to the ombudsman, he alleged the premier’s chief of staff, Dean French, asked the OPP “to purchase a large camper-type vehicle … modified to specifications the premier’s office would provide us” and keep the costs “off the books.”

The premier called that “a baseless claim without merit.”

“That’s just not accurate whatsoever. I asked if they had a used one,” Ford said last month.

He did not say why he needed the van or why his office allegedly wanted the costs of customizing the vehicle kept hidden.

Like all premiers, Ford is currently ferried in an OPP SUV.

https://www.thestar.com/politics/provin ... d-opp.html

[Michael Jack]

The current situation with Ron Taverner — veteran cop with the Toronto Police Service and would-be OPP commissioner — is a great reminder to me of two things: One, unchecked desires can lead us into things we can’t handle and two, just because something is offered to you doesn’t mean you should take it.

Taverner is a distinguished police officer who’s served with the Toronto Police Service (TPS) for more than 50 years. He’s 72 years old and has had no intention of retiring, although his current situation may cause him to reconsider. He recently rescinded his resignation as superintendent with the TPS after being appointed as the new OPP commissioner in the fall.

From the get-go, this appointment came into question because of Taverner’s relationship to Premier Doug Ford. But with the discovery that he didn’t initially qualify for the position, and that a new job posting had lowered the qualifications, suspicion grew and rightly so.

Former acting OPP commissioner Brad Blair requested the Ontario ombudsman conduct a probe into the hiring of Taverner, but when that request was declined, he went to the courts to have the ombudsman follow through.

Regarding Blair, Ford said, "I get it that he’s upset he didn’t win a fair process. I understand. Did he step over the line on a lot of things? I'm going to let the media decide that and I wish you would look into that," he said.

And with that, we have the premier making an appeal to the media. What a mess! Some might say Taverner didn’t know this was going to happen. But this is what can happen when you can’t say no to yourself and others. This is what can happen when ambition rules over wisdom.

Now because of this he’s referred to as Ford’s longtime friend instead of who he is and his own track record; because of this, he’s neither here nor there. He’s back with the TPS, but is he really there? This should have been the time when Taverner finished one season strong in order to begin another — perhaps not retirement, but not this either.

I hope he’s gained clarity over the holidays and if by returning to the TPS he is withdrawing his name as the next OPP commissioner, this should be clearly stated. If not, heaven help him and us.

https://www.durhamregion.com/opinion-st ... ot-to-be-/

[Michael Jack]

An Ontario Provincial Police deputy commissioner is headed to court to force the ombudsman to investigate the appointment of a friend of Premier Doug Ford to head the OPP.

Brad Blair, who served as interim commissioner until going public with complaints about the Progressive Conservatives’ controversial hiring of Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner, will get his first day in court Monday.

Blair’s lawyer, Julian Falconer, filed an application to Divisional Court “to determine and enforce the jurisdiction” of ombudsman Paul Dubé to review the OPP commissioner hiring process on an “expedited” basis.

Dubé has declined to investigate, insisting it is beyond his jurisdiction.

There is “serious concern of the nefarious effect that perceived political interference would have on the perceived impartiality and integrity of the OPP, a matter of great public importance,” Falconer says in a notice of motion.

Integrity commissioner J. David Wake is already conducting a probe into the controversial hiring following a complaint by New Democrat MPP Kevin Yarde (Brampton North).

Wake is examining whether there was any political interference in the appointment of Taverner, 72, whose Toronto police command in the northwest corner of the city includes the Ford family turf of Etobicoke.

But Falconer argues that report will not be “an effective vehicle” in this situation.

“Any recommendations by the integrity commissioner will be put before the MPPs, in assembly, to decide, via a vote,” he writes. “Such a vote is final and conclusive. As the government of the day holds a majority … it would be unlikely that any findings of wrongdoing would be upheld.”

“If the ombudsman does not review the complaint, the independence of the OPP will continue to operate under a cloud of suspicions,” Falconer warns.

“This is a serious matter as the independence of the OPP — a body that can be called on to investigate provincial politicians — must be seen as legitimate in the eyes of the citizenry.”

Indeed, the force was called on to investigate deleted documents related to a previous Liberal government’s closure of gas-fired power plants before the 2011 provincial election. Last April, a top Liberal political aide was sentenced to four months in jail, pending an appeal.

Speaking for Dubé, lawyer Frank Cesario of the firm Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP, said in court documents there is no need to “jump the Divisional Court’s normal queue for cases.”

“The appointment with which Mr. Blair takes issue has been put on hold … pending the integrity commissioner’s inquiry. That inquiry could take months.”

Ford’s government named Taverner as OPP commissioner on Nov. 29, sparking concerns about the independence of the force, which has investigated provincial governments in the past.

The 51-year police veteran asked his appointment be postponed and has returned to his old job overseeing three police divisions in Etobicoke during the integrity commissioner’s review.

Ford has said he did not push for his long-time chum to be hired, but he has criticized Blair for complaining.

Last month, the premier said it was “sour grapes” because the 32-year OPP veteran was a runner-up to Taverner.

“There is a lot of misinformation going out there,” said Ford, pointing to Blair’s explosive nine-page letter to Dubé on Dec. 11.

“I get it that he’s upset that he didn’t win a fair process. I understand. Did he step over the line on a lot of things? I’m going to let the media decide that — and I wish you would look into that actually,” he told reporters.

In his missive, the OPP deputy commissioner alleged the premier’s chief of staff, Dean French, asked the force “to purchase a large camper-type vehicle …modified to specifications the premier’s office would provide us” and keep the costs “off the books.”

On Dec. 18, Ford called that “a baseless claim without merit.”

“That’s just not accurate whatsoever. I asked if they had a used one,” he said at his most recent news conference.

The premier did not say why he needed the van or why his office allegedly wanted the costs of customizing the van kept hidden. He is currently driven around in a police SUV.

Blair served as interim commissioner after the retirement of commissioner Vince Hawkes last fall.

In the wake of his letter to Dubé he was replaced by Gary Couture.

https://www.thestar.com/politics/provin ... onday.html

[Michael Jack]

An Ontario Provincial Police deputy commissioner is asking a court to urgently consider ordering the provincial ombudsman to investigate the appointment of a friend of the premier’s to the job of top cop.

Brad Blair has applied to Ontario’s Divisional Court in an attempt to force an investigation into the hiring of Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner as the new OPP commissioner, raising concerns about potential political interference.

Blair asked the ombudsman last month to probe the hiring process that saw 72-year-old Taverner get the job but Paul Dube declined, saying cabinet deliberations are outside the office’s jurisdiction.

A few days after Blair asked the courts to consider the case, the province’s integrity commissioner launched an investigation and Taverner delayed his appointment pending the outcome of the probe.

Premier Doug Ford has indicated that Taverner’s appointment will go ahead whenever the integrity review is finished, and Blair’s lawyer argues in documents filed to the court that could be complete in a matter of weeks.

That leaves a narrow window for the court case, argues Julian Falconer.

“The underlying matters require an expedited resolution in order to address the perceived political interference in the OPP and to enable a timely return to the normal administration of the OPP,” he writes.

The court is set to hear Falconer’s motion for an expedited hearing on Monday.

Falconer argues that the integrity commissioner’s mandate is to review whether Ford used his office to further his own or someone else’s personal interest, while an ombudsman probe could be broader, looking at potential political interference in the hiring process, any negative impact on the independence of the OPP and any effects on public confidence in the OPP’s integrity.

If the integrity commissioner finds a provincial politician has violated the Members’ Integrity Act, he can recommend various penalties, but the legislature — under the majority Progressive Conservatives — could reject the recommendation.

The ombudsman’s lawyer argues in a letter, included in Falconer’s court filings, that the integrity review could take months and there is no reason to jump the court queue.

Taverner is a longtime Ford ally who initially did not meet the requirements listed for the commissioner position. The Ford government has admitted it lowered the requirements for the position to attract a wider range of candidates.

Blair said in a letter to the ombudsman that the original job posting required candidates to have a rank of deputy police chief or higher, or assistant commissioner or higher, in a major police service — a threshold Taverner did not meet.

https://torontosun.com/news/provincial/ ... ioner-case

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/court-to-hea ... -1.4248101

https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/c ... ioner-case

https://london.ctvnews.ca/court-to-hear ... -1.4248096

[Michael Jack]

Toronto police Superintendent Ron Taverner, the Ontario government’s choice as the next commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police, met with Premier Doug Ford multiple times in the months leading up to his appointment, including a dinner with the hiring official who vetted Supt. Taverner for the high-profile position.

Supt. Taverner also accompanied Mr. Ford to an event at the Premier’s lakeside cottage just days before it was announced publicly that the top job at the OPP was available, a Globe and Mail review of photographs and related records shows.

Neither man has made a secret of the fact they are friends, and Supt. Taverner’s ties to the Ford family go back even further. He has publicly praised the late Rob Ford, the former mayor of Toronto who died in 2016 and was himself embroiled in a major police investigation after gang members filmed him smoking crack cocaine in 2013.

Their interactions just prior to his appointment, though, will be of interest to the politicians, judges and watchdogs now examining the government’s appointment of the 72-year-old, mid-level commander.

Following a public outcry over the hire, Supt. Taverner last month deferred accepting the job pending a review by the province’s Integrity Commissioner – a probe into, among other matters, whether Mr. Ford should have recused himself when cabinet approved the appointment.

In the meantime, OPP Deputy Commissioner Brad Blair will be in divisional court Monday, arguing that another watchdog, the Ontario Ombudsman, should investigate the broader issue of whether the Ford government crossed a line and tried to exert control over the police – specifically a police force that has jurisdiction over investigations of government officials.

Mr. Ford has said he had “zero influence” over the hiring. He has repeatedly pointed to the panel of interviewers, saying they recommended Supt. Taverner for the job, not him. “No matter who it was, I would have accepted.”

But a review of the recent encounters between the Premier and the police commander – many of which have been captured in photos and video posted online – shows that one of those interview panelists dined with the two men months before the appointment. On June 18, 2018, Mario Di Tommaso – who would go on to interview applicants in both rounds of the job competition – was seated next to Mr. Ford and Supt. Taverner during the dinner portion of a golf tournament.

At the time, Mr. Ford had been Premier for 11 days, Mr. Di Tommaso was a Toronto police staff superintendent and one of the officers under his charge was Supt. Taverner. The officers have worked for the Toronto Police Service for a combined nine decades.

On Oct. 1, less than four months after the three men dined together, Mr. Di Tommaso was named the new deputy minister of Community Safety – the highest-ranking bureaucrat in Ontario law enforcement. (The other panelist who recommended Supt. Taverner, according to Mr. Ford, was Steve Orsini, the secretary of the cabinet, the province’s top civil servant. On Dec. 14, as criticism of the appointment grew, Mr. Orsini announced he will retire at the end of this month.)

Mr. Ford and Supt. Taverner declined to respond to detailed questions about their multiple meetings in advance of the appointment. Mr. Di Tommaso did not respond to a list of questions.

There is little information on the public record about what the men discussed at any of their meetings, including whether the commissioner’s job came up.

But The Globe has compiled a chronology of events and government moves that raise questions about whether a path was cleared for Supt. Taverner’s appointment – an appointment that Deputy Commissioner Blair says has tarnished the “perceived independence and integrity of the OPP.”

June 18, 2018: Dinner, Toronto Police Chief Invitational golf tournament

Fresh off his victory in Ontario’s 43rd general election, Mr. Ford arrived at the Markland Wood Golf Club for the tail end of the annual Toronto Police Chief Invitational golf tournament. When he arrived, he gravitated toward a familiar face.

A photograph from the event shows Mr. Ford seated for dinner between two police officers: Supt. Taverner to his left and then Staff Superintendent Di Tommaso to his right. At the time, Supt. Taverner was the superintendent for three west-end Toronto police divisions and Mr. Di Tommaso was his boss.

Wanita Kelava, the tournament director, said she didn’t know who invited the Premier to the event. “It was a last-minute thing,” she said. Seats were not assigned, and participants were welcome to sit wherever they wanted.

One day after The Globe made a number of inquiries with Supt. Taverner and others about the dinner, all photos of Supt. Taverner were removed from the golf tournament’s website.

July 30, 2018: Dinner, Posticino

Mr. Ford dined with Supt. Taverner and Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders at Posticino, an Italian restaurant in Toronto’s west end.

This meeting was first disclosed by the Official Opposition, the NDP, which obtained a portion of the Premier’s calendar through the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and released it to the public. The only person who has spoken publicly about this meeting is Chief Saunders, who said the dinner was arranged to discuss gun violence. Asked at a news conference if the OPP commissioner’s job came up, he said, “Absolutely no.” He added: “I wish I had time to discuss the OPP, but I am the chief here in Toronto and I have gun violence and young black boys killing other young black boys.”

Chief Saunders said Supt. Taverner was invited to the dinner because his police divisions in North Etobicoke account for “40 per cent of the city’s violence.”

According to Mr. Ford’s calendar, the dinner was scheduled to last 90 minutes.

Aug. 16, 2018: Wally’s Grill

Wally’s Grill is a diner about a 20-minute walk from Deco Labels & Tags, the printing business owned by Mr. Ford’s family. On this day, the Premier joined Supt. Taverner there for a meal, a meeting captured in a photograph by a customer, who supplied the image to The Globe.

The photographer, whom The Globe is not identifying, positioned a copy of the Aug. 16 edition of the Toronto Star within the frame of the photo to show when it was taken. The metadata contained in the image indicates it was taken at 2:39 p.m. that day.

Aug. 28, 2018: Premier Ford’s cottage

For the past few years, Mr. Ford and Supt. Taverner have made an annual trek to Mr. Ford’s cottage, north of the city, to host a group of teenagers from the Toronto community known as Rexdale. This August, they brought along the Premier’s personal news crew – Ontario News Now, the taxpayer-funded service that streams video on behalf of the Progressive Conservative government.

Ontario News Now interviewed Mr. Ford and Supt. Taverner while their guests – young adults from a youth organization called Trust 15 – played in the background on Mr. Ford’s beach.

“These are the greatest kids around. They’re incredible. I love ’em,” Mr. Ford, wearing a “For The People” T-shirt, told the news service. Although the video was posted on YouTube on Aug. 30, Trust 15 posted photos of the event on its Instagram page on Aug. 28.

When Supt. Taverner’s appointment was announced in a news release at the end of November, it included several endorsements, including one from the founder of Trust 15, Marcia Brown.

Reached by phone, Ms. Brown declined to answer questions about the trip. As for who asked her to write an endorsement of Supt. Taverner, Ms. Brown encouraged a Globe reporter to “talk to Ron or Doug.”

Autumn 2018: A path is cleared

It’s not clear when it became known within Queen’s Park that OPP commissioner Vince Hawkes was set to retire. But on Sept. 5, he made it official in a memo to the OPP’s 5,800 uniformed officers and 2,800 civilian employees.

What those thousands of staff members didn’t know was that Mr. Hawkes had developed a fractious relationship with Ontario’s new Premier, according to Deputy Commissioner Blair.

Mr. Ford “expressed displeasure” that the OPP had not given him a security detail he “would feel comfortable with,” Mr. Blair later alleged in a complaint to the Ontario Ombudsman about Supt. Taverner’s appointment.

Mr. Ford asked for a face-to-face meeting with Commissioner Hawkes, where he “stated that if former commissioner Hawkes would not address the issue, perhaps a new commissioner would,” Deputy Commissioner Blair alleged.

In the weeks that followed Mr. Hawkes’ announcement, the government made a number of moves that – intentionally or not – created a path for Supt. Taverner to assume control of the OPP.

On Sept. 24, the government announced that a key bureaucrat was leaving, a long-standing public servant who would have been a key voice at the table when it came to picking the next commissioner. Matt Torigian, the deputy minister of Community Safety and a former Waterloo Regional Police Service chief, was joining the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, the government said in a news release.

That news was only a week old when the government named Mr. Torigian’s permanent replacement: Mr. Di Tommaso, Supt. Taverner’s boss at the Toronto Police Service, would serve as the new deputy minister of Community Safety.

Right away, Mr. Di Tommaso was required to dive into one of the most pressing issues confronting his ministry: Who would lead the provincial police force responsible for patrolling 323 Ontario towns and villages and 127,000 kilometres of highways?

On his first day of work – Oct. 22, a Monday – the competition officially opened to find the next OPP commissioner.

Two days after the position was posted, an alteration was made to the job requirements. Originally, applicants needed to have the “rank of Deputy Chief or higher,” which would have precluded Supt. Taverner from applying. But on Oct. 24, that restriction was modified to allow for any “experienced executive with a background in policing.”

No one in the public service has taken credit for this alteration.

In his fourth week on the job, Mr. Di Tommaso and another deputy minister started the first round of interviews. Thirteen candidates were interviewed, Deputy Commissioner Blair said.

By Mr. Di Tommaso’s fifth week on the job, the government had narrowed it down to three candidates. On Nov. 20, Mr. Di Tommaso and the head of the public service, Mr. Orsini, interviewed those applicants: Deputy Commissioner Blair, OPP Provincial Commander Mary Silverthorn and Supt. Taverner.

On Nov. 29, the government announced Supt. Taverner would be the next OPP commissioner.

The news shook the senior leadership of the OPP, which coincidentally gathered two days later at Blue Mountain resort to celebrate the retirement of Mr. Hawkes.

Mr. Di Tommaso was there.

The emcee for the event was retired OPP investigator Chris Nicholas, best known as the officer who oversaw the force’s successful 2010 investigation of former air-force colonel Russell Williams, a serial sexual predator and murderer.

Mr. Nicholas shared an anecdote. His grandchildren were admiring the badges he had been awarded as he ascended through the ranks of the OPP. They noticed a ceremonial, honorary commissioner badge he had been given, even though he had retired as a superintendent – three ranks below commissioner. His granddaughter asked: Were you the commissioner?

“That would be silly,” his six-year-old grandson replied. “You can’t be the commissioner of the OPP from the superintendent rank. You need at least two badges before that.”

The room erupted with laughter.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/ ... pointment/

[Michael Jack]

An Ontario court rejected a request Monday to speed up a hearing into whether it should order an ombudsman investigation into the appointment of a friend of the premier's to the job of top cop.

OPP deputy commissioner Brad Blair has asked Ontario's Divisional Court to force an investigation into the hiring of Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner as the new OPP commissioner.

Blair's lawyer Julian Falconer argued Monday that the case should be expedited, in part because Blair has reasonable grounds to be concerned about reprisal, though he did not go into detail.

"It is my view that reprisal is purely a function of his seeking an investigation," Falconer said in court. "If an investigation were commenced formally, his vulnerability would be reduced."

Blair was acting OPP commissioner at the time he originally started the court case, but soon after was removed from that position.

A few days after Blair launched his court application, the province's integrity commissioner launched an investigation and Taverner delayed his appointment pending the outcome of that probe.

But Premier Doug Ford has indicated that Taverner's appointment will go ahead whenever the integrity review is finished.

The integrity investigation is narrow in scope and a broader ombudsman's investigation is needed, Falconer argued.

"The installation of Ron Taverner, we say, as commissioner of the OPP without this full investigation can irreversibly damage the command structure of the OPP, because — quite simply — these questions go to the heart of the credibility of command."

Justice Herman Wilton-Siegel said Falconer failed to establish the basis for an urgent hearing.

"There is no urgency related to the timing of the assumption of responsibilities by the new OPP commissioner," he said. "The ombudsman does not have the authority to prevent Supt. Taverner from assuming the responsibilities of OPP commissioner."

Wilton-Siegel said, however, that he hopes the case can be heard in a timely fashion.

Falconer said he expects that to be April or May.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ ... -1.4977306

[Michael Jack]

The lawyer Julian Falconer, on behalf of his client Brad Blair, the deposed interim commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police, is pushing the proverbial boulder uphill, with all that entails.

Falconer is trying to force the Ontario Ombudsman, Paul Dube, to take a big look at the curious process that resulted in the hiring of Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s good friend, Ron Taverner, as the next OPP commissioner. Falconer says the process looks stinky, as indeed it does, and after Dube twice turned down his plea to investigate the matter (he said he doesn’t have the authority and that besides, he couldn’t direct the government who to appoint and couldn’t stop the Taverner appointment in any case), he turned to the courts, hoping Dube would be forced to act.

That question hasn’t yet been heard, let alone decided, but Falconer was in Divisional Court in Toronto on Monday, trying to get an expedited date for the argument.

He failed to persuade Ontario Superior Court Judge Herman Wilton-Siegel that there was such urgency, though the judge did agree he’s “concerned” the matter be heard in a timely matter.

And lest you forget, something sure looks fishy about it: The job advertisement was up only two days before it was pulled, with the qualifications for applying magically lowered so as to allow someone of Taverner’s rank to give it a whirl; there have been various reports that Ford was looking to find a soft landing for his friend, and that Taverner was offered (and rejected) the chance to run the government cannabis store.

All this was reported by others, but sources of mine confirm it.

Just for good measure, the Monday Globe and Mail ran a story featuring delicious pictures of Taverner and Ford socializing together in the weeks and months before Taverner’s appointment — and one of them also featured former staff superintendent, and now Ford’s deputy community safety minister, Mario Di Tommaso, who was part of the allegedly independent committee that interviewed candidates for the job.

Di Tommaso was also Taverner’s direct superior at Toronto police, where they both worked for decades, Taverner as the superintendent in the very area where the Ford family lives and where their family business is located.

Now, Ontario Integrity Commissioner David Wake has agreed to have a look at a small slice of the hiring, this upon receiving a formal complaint from NDP MPP Kevin Yarde, who alleges that Premier Ford contravened the Integrity Act by participating in the cabinet decision to appoint Taverner to the $250,000 job last November.

As the controversy over the appointment was raging, Ford said publicly he didn’t need to recuse himself because the decision had been made by “an independent panel” and he’d had “zero influence.”

But the bigger questions — whether there was political interference in the hiring process and has the OPP’s independence been compromised — remain an oozing sore that no one much wants to examine.

As important, of course, is the question of whether any of it would make a difference to this premier or his government.

Even if Dube were to suddenly acquiesce or be ordered to inquire into the hiring process; even if he issued a report saying that yes, the process was tainted by political interference; even if Wake were to determine that Ford should have recused himself from any discussion about Taverner’s appointment, my own suspicion is that none of it would change a thing.

Ford and his Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones have repeatedly said publicly that Taverner was chosen by an “independent commission,” “an independent commissioner,” and “the independent hiring committee.”

Er, which was it?

And after the integrity commissioner announced that he would conduct an inquiry, Ford said, “Let the review take place. And I can tell you one thing, once the review gets done, he’s (Taverner’s) going to be the best commissioner the OPP has ever seen.”

In other words, it appears the premier is determined to install Taverner.

Thus does Falconer’s task change from pushing a boulder uphill to, can you shame the shameless?

Two final points: How is it that Brad Blair is left to finance this probably hopeless but important exercise by himself?

(Yes, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the commissioner’s job, but his concerns for the OPP appear genuine and much broader than any personal axe he may have to grind.)

And if you doubt its importance, cast your mind back to the days of the Dalton McGuinty government, and later the Kathleen Wynne government.

Off the top of my large but small-brained head, I can remember OPP probes into the gas plants scandal, wind farms records, ORNGE air ambulance, and alleged Elections Act violations. The simple truth is that governments, being composed of people, may cross lines, make mistakes and even act illegally, and in Ontario, when they allegedly do, it’s the OPP that investigates.

That’s why the police need to be independent and free of political interference, at the very least of the overt, guys-get-my-good buddy-a-job sort.

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/christ ... he-outcome

[Michael Jack]

There’s one inescapable reason why Premier Doug Ford should not follow through on appointing Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner as commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police.

It’s that putting the longtime Ford family friend in charge of the OPP will put both the premier and the Progressive Conservative government he leads in an ongoing conflict of interest.

This is an issue regardless of the outcome of the ongoing investigation by the province’s integrity commissioner into the process by which Taverner was hired.

What happens, for example, if the OPP has to investigate Ford’s government for wrongdoing, as occurred with the previous Liberal government in the cancelled gas plants scandal, the Ornge air ambulance scandal and the Sudbury byelection fiasco?

What happens if a member of the opposition parties becomes the focus of an OPP investigation?

In all of these scenarios, the fact that the head of the OPP is a longtime, personal friend of the premier and his family would create a perceived conflict of interest, no matter how fair or thorough the police investigation and no matter if it resulted in charges or convictions.

The perception of a conflict of interest has already come into play in the process by which Taverner, 72, was selected as commissioner.

This has nothing to do with Taverner’s competence for the job. He might well make an excellent commissioner.

But the issue is that the qualifications for being chosen as OPP commissioner by the selection committee were changed in the middle of the process so that Taverner could be considered for the job.

In that context, the fact Ford and Taverner are friends creates the perception of a conflict of interest even if it’s true, as Ford insists, that he had no hand in Taverner’s hiring.

The fact that the selection committee knew about Ford’s long-standing friendship with Taverner, and that the premier would be pleased by his selection, is relevant to the issue of how and why he was hired.

It’s true, as Ford said last week, that he has the authority to appoint Taverner as commissioner, because regardless of the process for selecting anyone to that position, it ultimately must be approved by cabinet, which in the real world means the premier.

But just because Ford has the power to appoint Taverner, doesn’t mean he should.

To be fair to the premier, let’s not be naive about how political appointments are made by governments of all ideological stripes, including the previous Liberal one, in which political patronage is a fact of life.

Governments don’t hire their enemies for key jobs, they hire their friends, and there are many jobs to which Taverner could have been appointed that would not have raised the red flag that appointing him as OPP commissioner has.

As for Ford’s argument he has concerns about how the OPP is being run and that he needs someone he can trust to reform it, he has every right to make that a priority for the new commissioner.

But surely Taverner is not the only individual capable of implementing such reforms.

As for Ford’s complaint much of the media is out to get him no matter what he does, that’s true, but any premier who hired a personal friend to run the OPP would be subject to intense media scrutiny.

Smart politicians know when it’s time to abandon a hill that it’s not worth dying on. This is that time for Ford.

https://theprovince.com/opinion/columni ... 9a9ef6058b

[Michael Jack]

Ontario Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones says she believes Premier Doug Ford’s family friend will become the province’s next police commissioner, even as she is scheduled to meet with Ontario’s Integrity Commissioner, who is probing the hiring.

Ms. Jones told The Globe and Mail on Monday that she still expects Toronto Police Superintendent Ron Taverner to be appointed commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police when Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake’s review is complete.

Mr. Wake is probing whether Mr. Ford was in a conflict of interest when his government named Supt. Taverner, a 72-year-old mid-level commander and long-time friend of the Fords, to the post in November.

“I always said I would co-operate” with the review, Ms. Jones said, adding that she has no further information about the investigation.

“I’m scheduled [to be interviewed], but any information that he has or that he wants to share [about] the investigation, you should really ask him.”

When asked if she believes Supt. Taverner’s appointment will go ahead, Ms. Jones replied, “Yes.”

Mr. Wake’s office’s declined to comment Monday on the status of the probe.

“The Office does not comment on an ongoing inquiry. I do not have any information to provide on the timeline,” spokeswoman Michelle Renaud said in an e-mail.

Mr. Ford has not been interviewed in the probe, the Premier’s Office said Monday. A spokesman did not respond to follow-up questions about whether Mr. Ford has been scheduled for an interview.

The Premier recently defended the appointment as “political,” arguing he has the unilateral power to pick whomever he wants as the head of Canada’s second-largest police force. Mr. Ford did not say he had a hand in choosing Supt. Taverner, but he stressed that all prior premiers in Ontario have chosen OPP commissioners as “a political appointment.”

Legislation states that the provincial cabinet, which Mr. Ford leads, picks all OPP commissioners and deputy commissioners.

Previously, Mr. Ford had defended the hire by insisting that an independent arm’s-length panel – and not the Premier himself – chose Supt. Taverner. The panel includes Deputy Minister Mario Di Tommaso, a former Toronto Police commander who served with Supt. Taverner for nearly 40 years.

Last month, the NDP filed a complaint with Mr. Wake alleging that Mr. Ford had improperly interfered behind the scenes. Supt. Taverner, who was supposed to start in the job in December, put his swearing-in on hold and asked for his resignation from the Toronto force to be rescinded until the Integrity Commissioner’s review is complete. There is no set date for that investigation to be completed.

Deputy Commissioner Brad Blair, the senior OPP officer who has publicly challenged Supt. Taverner’s appointment, had also been interviewed in the Integrity Commissioner’s probe, the Toronto Star reported last week.

Deputy Commissioner Blair’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/ ... -shes-set/

[Michael Jack]

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is accusing Premier Doug Ford’s government of undermining an independent inquiry into the hiring of the province’s next police commissioner, and says the appointment cannot go ahead.

Ms. Horwath said comments made by Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones to The Globe and Mail on Monday mean that Toronto Police Superintendent Ron Taverner – a long-time friend of Mr. Ford and his family – cannot be made the next commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police, and the process should begin again.

Ms. Jones told The Globe she still believes Supt. Taverner will be appointed OPP commissioner, despite the fact that the province’s Integrity Commissioner is currently probing whether Mr. Ford was in a conflict of interest when the government named Supt. Taverner to the post last November.

“If Ontario’s Provincial Police are going to do its job effectively, there cannot be any doubt about their impartiality or their independence,” Ms. Horwath said in a statement.

“Now that the Ford government has undermined the investigation into Taverner’s appointment, the people of Ontario, including police officers, will never have full confidence that Taverner is independent, and that his appointment was not a political move by the Premier’s office, designed to install someone to protect Ford and do his bidding.”

Ms. Jones’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Ms. Jones told The Globe on Monday that she is scheduled to meet with Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake, who is probing the hiring.

Mr. Ford has not been interviewed in the probe, the Premier’s Office said Monday. A spokesman did not respond to follow-up questions about whether Mr. Ford has been scheduled for an interview.

The Premier recently defended the appointment as “political,” arguing he has the unilateral power to pick whomever he wants as the head of Canada’s second-largest police force. Mr. Ford did not say he had a hand in choosing Supt. Taverner, a 72-year-old mid-level commander, but he stressed that all prior premiers in Ontario have chosen OPP commissioners as “a political appointment.”

Legislation states that the provincial cabinet, which Mr. Ford leads, appoints all OPP commissioners and deputy commissioners.

Previously, Mr. Ford had defended the hire by insisting that an independent arm’s-length panel – and not the Premier himself – chose Supt. Taverner. The panel includes Deputy Minister Mario Di Tommaso, a former Toronto Police commander who served with Supt. Taverner for nearly 40 years.

Last month, website iPolitics revealed that the qualifications for the OPP job were lowered two days after it was initially posted, making it possible for Supt. Taverner to apply.

The NDP filed a complaint with Mr. Wake alleging that Mr. Ford had improperly interfered behind the scenes. Supt. Taverner, who was supposed to start in the job in December, put his swearing-in on hold and asked for his resignation from the Toronto force to be rescinded until the Integrity Commissioner’s review is complete. There is no set date for that investigation to be completed. Mr. Wake’s office declined to comment on the status of the probe.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politic ... rners-opp/

[Michael Jack]

We entrust the exercise of state power to our premier hoping he will treat it as a sacred trust.

Without fear or favour. Or friendship.

When Doug Ford announced the handover of our all-powerful Ontario Provincial Police to his personal pal, Ron Taverner, he breached that trust. Not only by dispensing a prized patronage reward to an old crony, but by bestowing a priceless gift upon himself:

Total loyalty from the province’s top cop.

This week, we got an unwelcome reminder of how the provincial police could become beholden to the premier if Taverner is sworn in as chief. In future, Ford’s wish will be his command, because he will forever have a footnote — or hyphen — attached to his title:

“Commissioner of the OPP-IOU.”

Our provincial police chief will always be indebted to Ford because, as is now widely understood, he lacked the minimum qualifications for the job. Only when the premier’s hand-picked hiring committee dialed down the stated requirements did Taverner — who failed to make the first cut — get a second chance, with an IOU due.

The OPP has an anti-rackets squad to guard against politicking or gaming gone awry, when the fix is in. Now, we have Exhibit A for why mixing police and politics is a bad idea:

When the opposition New Democrats came upon a leaked copy of draft health care legislation this month, the government pounced. The OPP were promptly notified.

Never mind that when they were in opposition, the Tories trafficked in leaked documents and demanded that the police stay out of it — no witch hunts against whistleblowers. The Tories often demanded that the OPP investigate the governing Liberals for malfeasance.

Back then, the OPP came under intense scrutiny, notably when police intruded close to elections and occasionally in midcampaign. Yet their investigations were never suspected of partisanship.

Now imagine if the premier gets his way, installing Taverner despite the public outcry. If Ontario’s top cop is a crony who owes everything to Ford, police investigations will always run the risk of appearing compromised and conflicted.

That’s not fair for frontline officers, for the Crown lawyers who depend on their investigations, and for the people (or politicians) being probed by the police. The province’s integrity commissioner is looking into the affair, but he is no U.S.-style special prosecutor, merely a servant of the legislature whose findings can easily be ignored by a premier with a commanding majority.

Ford keeps dismissing the criticism from all sides of the political spectrum — not least from recent OPP brass — perhaps because this is intensely personal. His novel argument is that the top job is a patronage appointment that remains his prerogative as premier.

That is simply untrue among recent Ontario premiers. Unless Ford wants to turn the clock back to the depression era, when another populist ruled the province by rewriting the rule book.

Lest we forget, Mitch Hepburn’s right-leaning Liberals came to power in the 1930s vowing to disrupt government while trumpeting their direct connection to “the people.” When Hepburn encountered obstacles, he knew what to do and who to deploy.

In 1937, with General Motors workers on strike in Oshawa to win an eight-hour day, Hepburn summoned the OPP into action. When Ottawa refused to deploy additional RCMP forces as backup, the premier mobilized his own muscle by recruiting 200 “special constables,” many of them ex-military.

According to Dahn D. Higley’s definitive history of the OPP, published in 1984, “the new provincial force was being referred to as ‘Hepburn’s Hussars’ and the ‘Sons of Mitches’ by the premier’s detractors who resented or feared Hepburn’s militant posture.”

Higley’s book describes it as the premier’s “private army,” integrated into a paid OPP reserve for “times of emergency.” Labour historian Irving Abella writes that Hepburn’s Hussars were effectively paid strikebreakers.

Then as now, the premier considered the OPP to be his personal police force because its commander owed him personal loyalty. Unlike today, the attorney general of the day objected to the power play and exited cabinet.

Hepburn’s Hussars are a dark part of Ontario’s history. Do we really want them reincarnated today as Ford’s Forces, answerable to him through a direct line to the loyalist he crowned as commissioner of the OPP-IOU?

Fear not, you might say, the 1930s was a different era, a time of rising populism. But this is 2019, a historian might reply, a time of fading memories.

We forget our history, and the parallels, at our peril. The first lesson of history is that the rule of law is paramount.

That means power must be exercised without fear or favour. Or friendship.

https://www.thestar.com/politics/politi ... -ford.html

https://www.ourwindsor.ca/opinion-story ... doug-ford/

[Michael Jack]

An Ontario government request for an Ontario Provincial Police investigation into a leak of its secret plans for healthcare has prompted fresh concerns about what will happen if a friend of Premier Doug Ford gets to lead the provincial police force.

The Ford government called the OPP to launch a probe after an internal investigation concluded that an unnamed Ontario government employee was responsible for a massive leak of documents to the official Opposition NDP about the creation of a "super agency" to overhaul healthcare in the province. The employee has been fired.

“This is exhibit A of why Ron Taverner cannot be OPP commissioner,” said Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter.

The province's integrity commissioner is reviewing the nomination of Taverner, a close family friend of the premier, to the position of police commissioner. The nomination was announced after the government had modified the job description to ensure that he would qualify, iPolitics reported last fall.

In a new statement, Hunter expressed concerns about Taverner taking over the reins of the police force as it leads an investigation into an employee who may have caused them some political embarrassment.

“Doug Ford is asking the OPP to investigate a leak and alleging the NDP published stolen documents," she said. "In these situations the public must have confidence the OPP will act appropriately. That is impossible if the OPP commissioner is known to be a close friend of the premier.”

While Taverner's appointment has been postponed until the conclusion of an investigation by the integrity commissioner, Hunter reiterated that if his appointment does go through "it will undermine public confidence in the OPP."

The interim secretary of Ford's cabinet announced that the government had requested the police investigate in a note sent to all members of the province's public service on Feb. 4, 2019.

“As many of you may be aware, there have been media reports regarding the unauthorized disclosure of confidential government documents,” Steven Davidson wrote in the message. “I am writing to confirm that as a result of our investigation into this matter, the employee responsible for this breach is no longer employed in the Ontario Public Service."

He wrote that “the Ontario Provincial Police have also been notified" and reminded all staff of their oath as public servants "to protect the confidentiality of all information that comes into our possession unless we are legally authorized or required to to release it."

The firing comes five days after the NDP released draft legislation that details a plan, approved by cabinet, to overhaul the province's healthcare sector, which would include the privatization of services like health care inspections, laboratories, air ambulances and licensing.

A Jan. 22 briefing document that lays out the details for a new "super agency" was among the leaked records. The new agency would take over the planning and oversight duties of Ontario's health care system, including mental health services, knowledge sharing, patient relations and tissue donation and transplants, according to the document.

To do so, this super agency would “partner with public and private sector entities," allowing the government to transfer "all or part of the assets, liabilities, rights and obligations" of organizations such as Cancer Care Ontario, eHealth Ontario and the Trillium Gift of Life Network to the super agency. Many of these organizations are responsible for delivering home care, and one document warns of a potential risk of service disruptions.

And, according to the documents, front-line care would be managed by a new model for "integrated care delivery" formed through a bid system for which "expressions of interest" are due in March. The idea has sparked fears among NDP MPPs that front-line care would be converted to a for-profit model as the documents state that the super agency "may designate a person or entity, or a group of persons or entities, as an integrated care delivery system."

"If there was any doubt that this government is committed to massive privatization in health care, that doubt vanishes with this bill," Horwath told reporters on Jan. 31. "If Doug Ford plows ahead with this health-care privatization bill he has got one hell of a fight on his hands."

Horwath said she would not provide any information about the government leak and criticized the Doug Ford government for taking action against "whistleblowers."

Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliot responded by saying Horwath was "doing a serious disservice to legitimate whistleblowers by calling the individual who obtained these documents as such."

"This person did not uncover scandal or mismanagement. They uncovered draft public service documents that Andrea Horwath is now using for her own political and fundraising means," she told reporters on Monday.

'Just a draft'

A few days earlier, Elliott told reporters at a hastily-called Jan. 31 news conference at Queen's Park that the leaked document was "just a draft" and that Horwath had "got pretty much everything wrong."

"The way the system operates now is a mixture," she said, "but what we want to do is make sure that as we develop our transformational strategy we are looking at strengthening the public part of the system."

Elliot has yet to divulge details about whether the government plans to privatize any aspects of the provincial healthcare, saying only that they "are committed to our public health-care system," and that nothing has been finalized, and consultations are ongoing.

Despite Elliot's statements that the leaked documents were false, Horwath released the remaining documents on Monday morning, which revealed that the ideas for a super agency had been approved by cabinet, and three high-ranking civil servants had already been appointed to the newly created agency.

In a Jan. 31 statement, Elliott said much of the material has "never even crossed the minister's desk."

"Unfortunately, due to the importance of cabinet confidentiality, we are unable to confirm what has gone through the cabinet process," she said in the statement.

However the cabinet documents appear to be signed by both Elliott and given Royal Assent by Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Dowdswell, and detail payment plans for permanent board members for the super agency, which includes a $350 per diem for the chair.

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/0 ... lice-force

[Michael Jack]

Ah, the leak.

It’s as old as government itself.

The only thing that’s changed is the format it comes in. It’s no longer whispered government secrets written down on parchment, secured with a wax seal and carried to its destination on horseback. These days it’s official documents tucked in envelopes and handed off over coffee, or sent via email.

And why not? People in general are not good at keeping secrets.

As Benjamin Franklin put it: “Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.”

And the number of people it takes to draft 81 pages of proposed legislation to restructure Ontario’s health care system and incorporate a new super agency to oversee it all is considerably more than that.

So it’s little wonder that the Ford government’s confidential documents, released by the Ontario New Democratic Party in recent days, have come to light.

What is a little surprising is the government’s decision to call in the cavalry — in this case, the Ontario Provincial Police Anti-Rackets Branch — to investigate the leak.

According to the acting secretary of cabinet, Steven Davidson, the province’s top civil servant, the employee who leaked the documents has already been found and fired. And he sent a memo to all staff reminding them that the oath of public office and confidentiality notices do mean something, and breaching them “can have serious consequences.”

So, at this point, what role is there for the police in this affair, other than the heavy-handed tactic of trying to sow fear to keep everyone else in line?

Is that really how we want to use the police in Ontario? And, should the OPP decide to investigate, how can this possibly be the best use of the Anti-Rackets division’s time? It also investigates political corruption, health care fraud and schemes targeting vulnerable seniors.

Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives were certainly not riding this particular high horse when they were in opposition and on the receiving end of confidential Liberal government documents.

In 2017, the PCs received documents that showed the government’s cut to hydro bills would be temporary and costs would spike in a few years. They weren’t concerned then about the source of the documents or the public service’s requirement to protect confidential information.

The fact that they were “leaked documents” and “marked confidential” figured prominently in their press release of the day, which claimed that they had proof that hydro rates would “skyrocket to highest level ever after the election.”

Then, it was the Liberal energy minister who was scrambling to say the documents didn’t mean what the PCs claimed. They were “outdated” and “inaccurate.”

Now it’s PC Health Minister Christine Elliott who has had to rush out to claim that NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has misinterpreted these documents and the government doesn’t have an agenda to privatize more health care services. The documents, she says, are “not finalized” and a “very early version.”

We’ll know soon enough who is more right, and hopefully it won’t be to the detriment of Ontarians who need improved health care services, not chaos or cuts.

What we know already is that Ford’s Progressive Conservatives think something is wrong only if it benefits someone else.

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editori ... leaks.html