Court upholds OPP in gas plants probe
Former McGuinty top aide who now faces charges has complaint rejected by judges
Akey Liberal facing criminal charges in the gas plants scandal has lost a bid to have an OPP detective censured for neglect of duty in a probe over the alleged destruction of government documents.
Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice ruled Det.-Const. Andre Duval acted properly in not disclosing why Laura Miller — once deputy chief of staff to ex-premier Dalton McGuinty — refused to provide a statement to police.
“He (Duval) considered it would have been ‘unfair’ to Ms. Miller to provide the additional information that she wanted immunity in exchange for her co-operation with police,” a panel of three judges ruled in an eight-page decision Oct. 20.
“He could ‘imagine the firestorm’ that would have been created if he had provided that information and . . . there could have been ‘a lot more damage’ to her if he had done so.”
Miller is now based in Vancouver, serving as executive director of the governing British Columbia Liberals as the party prepares for a provincial election next spring.
Toronto lawyer Brian Shiller, who initially represented Miller, disputed the contention she was seeking immunity from prosecution in 2014 as the OPP investigation proceeded.
“My client never asked for protection against charges in exchange for an interview. The record is crystal clear on that,” he told the Star in an emailed statement Friday.
The lawyer representing Miller said he is reviewing the Superior Court ruling by justices Anne Molloy, Ian Nordheimer and Carolyn Horkins.
“She (Miller) wanted to help the police, because she had done nothing wrong,” said Scott Hutchison, of the Toronto firm Henein-Hutchison.
“But she also simply wanted what every other person interviewed by the police would want — an acknowledgement that her words wouldn’t be twisted and used against her.”
The court ruling followed a complaint by Miller to a watchdog agency — the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, headed by Gerry McNeilly — about the conduct of Duval and a colleague in regard to a search warrant for computer hard drives and testimony to a legislative committee.
Miller alleged that Duval and Det.Sgt. Brian Mason “deliberately and falsely” suggested she had refused to assist the OPP after advising police she would give a statement “provided that it was agreed that nothing I said would be used against me in any proceeding,” according to the court ruling obtained by the Star.
That was before Miller and former chief of staff David Livingston were charged in December 2015 with breach of trust and mischief in relation to data and misuse of a computer system following the McGuinty government’s controversial cancellation of two gas-fired power plants before the 2011 election.
Both Miller and Livingston deny any wrongdoing in the case, which goes to trial next Sept. 11. McGuinty was never a suspect and faces no charges.
Following Miller’s complaint, the police review office ordered OPP Commissioner Vince Hawkes to hold a misconduct hearing for Duval on neglect of duty.
Hawkes challenged that order, resulting the recent court decision.