PCs delay controversial appointment of OPP chief while selection is reviewed


READ MORE


The Ontario government said Saturday it will “respect” a request from the incoming OPP commissioner to delay his appointment while the province’s integrity commissioner reviews the circumstances of his selection.


Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner, a 51-year veteran of the force and long-time family friend of Premier Doug Ford, was named as the next OPP commissioner last month. He was set to be appointed on Monday. 


In his request, which was made via email to Sylvia Jones, minister of community safety and correctional services, Taverner said he made the decision “out of the greatest of respect for the brave men and women of the Ontario Provincial Police.”


Jones said in a statement that the government has accepted his decision. 


“While the government has full confidence in Mr. Taverner, we will respect his request for a delay in his appointment, until such time as the integrity commissioner has conducted a review of the selection process,” Jones said. 


Earlier this week, interim OPP Commissioner Brad Blair asked the Ontario ombudsman to investigate Taverner’s selection in a scathing letter. The 32-year veteran said the process was marred by “questions of political interference.”


Taverner did not initially qualify for the role, but the Ford government has admitted that it lowered the requirements for the job to attract a wider range of candidates.


Of the 27 candidates, Blair — who applied for the job himself — contended only four did not meet the original threshold requirements.


The ombudsman, however, denied Blair’s request. Blair has since filed a lawsuit, asking an Ontario court to compel Ombudsman Paul Dubé to carry out a probe. Blair’s legal counsel, Julian Falconer, said the ombudsman believes the directive to undertake a probe must come from the premier and his cabinet.  


Blair offered to step aside as interim commissioner while a review was completed. On Saturday, it was revealed that OPP Deputy Commissioner Gary Couture would take on the role while the integrity commissioner looks into Taverner’s selection.


Couture will take temporary command on Monday, according to Falconer, who laid out some details of the transition in a conference call with reporters on Saturday afternoon.


Blair does ‘not regret a single step’


In a statement, Blair said he will be “fully supportive” of Couture, adding that he does “not regret a single step” he has taken in the last week.


“I remain devoted to ensuring that the well-earned reputation of the Ontario Provincial Police remains untarnished. It is this credibility, along with the perceived independence of our service, that puts us in the best possible position to uphold the rule of law,” Blair continued. 


Brad Blair will return to his former role as deputy commissioner, traffic safety and operational support for the Ontario Provincial Police. (Ontario Provincial Police)


His lawyer, Falconer, said that despite the developments, Blair would continue with his court case to have the ombudsman launch his own review. Falconer said the powers of the ombudsman’s office “far exceed” those of the integrity commissioner, and they will facilitate a “more robust, more independent” report.


“We need the ombudsman to do his job,” Falconer said. 


Taverner did not respond to a request for comment from CBC News. 


Premier denies involvement



For his part, Ford has denied that he tried to influence the selection process. 


“We’re friends. I’m friends with thousands of people,” Ford said last week, noting he was in the cabinet meeting that resulted in the appointment.


As the story has developed further, however, Ford has avoided taking questions from reporters at public events.


In a statement, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said the delay suggests that concerns about political interference are “founded.


“We can’t allow the credibility and integrity of the OPP to be put at risk by Mr. Ford,” Horwath, leader of the province’s Official Opposition, continued. 


The NDP has called for an non-partisan emergency select committee to conducts its own investigation into the matter.


Similarly, Horwath has asked that the RCMP step in to probe an allegation from Blair that the premier’s office asked the OPP to buy a “camper-type” vehicle that would be customized to Ford’s specifications. The purchase was to remain “off the books,” according to Blair. 







Article source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/senate-immigration-reform-1.4538249?cmp=rss


Best Wordpress Plugin development company in India     Best Web development company in India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Canadian expected to be aboard Russia's 1st manned space mission since rocket failure

READ MORE The first manned mission to the International Space Station since a Russian rocket failed to launch successfully earlier this month may take off on Dec. 3, space agency Roscosmos said on Wednesday. And the crew is expected to include Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques, Agence France-Press reported. A Russian cosmonaut and U.S. astronaut were forced to abort their mission on Oct. 11 and perform an emergency landing after a launch accident that Roscomos said was caused by a faulty sensor. The accident was the first serious launch problem experienced by a manned Soyuz space mission since 1983, when a crew narrowly escaped before a launch pad explosion. Sergei Krikalyov, a senior Roscosmos official, was quoted by state news agency Tass as saying the next manned launch had been planned for mid-December, but that Russia was trying to bring the date forward so that the ISS is not briefly left without a crew. “The industry is making significant efforts to move the launch t...
Read more

Getting the dope on pot stocks is becoming easier as media groups invest in content: Don Pittis

Image
READ MORE “What’s the buzz? Tell me what’s happening,” goes the ’70s rock anthem. Part of the catchiness of the lyric — from the rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar  — was that in that era the term “buzz” had developed a second spicy meaning. It described the high that people got from smoking cannabis. In the 1970s, the magazine High Times was a brand new title keeping an eye on the illegal but growing business of marijuana pricing and sales. It ran centrefolds of glistening pot plants and of an apartment filled to the windows with what the magazine insisted was an entire ton of cannabis. Now some of Canada’s most staid media voices are looking for ways to go toe to toe with High Times and its U.S. competitors, hoping to profit from Canada’s global head start in legal recreational cannabis. But when it comes to making a killing from spreading the buzz on the cannabis biz, to q...
Read more

Toronto man denies conspiring with Marvel CEO in alleged hate mail scheme

Image
READ MORE A Toronto man accused of conspiring with the head of Marvel Entertainment in a bizarre hate mail campaign against his wealthy former employer has denied any role in the alleged scheme. David Smith, along with Marvel CEO Isaac (Ike) Perlmutter, is the target of a slander lawsuit launched earlier this year by Canadian businessman Harold Peerenboom. Now Smith — a former employee of Peerenboom’s Toronto-based executive search firm, Mandrake Management — has filed a motion to dismiss the U.S. civil suit. It’s the latest development in the years-long legal battle between Peerenboom and Perlmutter, a notoriously reclusive American billionaire and personal friend of U.S. President Donald Trump. The hate mail campaign, which ran   between 2012 to 2015, saw anonymous letters falsely accusing Peerenboom of being a child molester, murderer and anti-Semite...
Read more