OPP hiring complaint heads to court Monday
Senior officer says ombudsman must investigate appointment of premier’s friend to top job
ROBERT BENZIE AND ROB FERGUSON 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 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.