Top Ford adviser to get high-paid OEB appointment

TORONTO — A top staffer to Ontario Premier Doug Ford is leaving her post for a high-paid appointment with the province’s energy regulator, the latest in what the Opposition calls a series of cushy jobs for his friends.

Ford has recommended that Jenni Byrne, who has served as his principal secretary, become a full-time member of the Ontario Energy Board. The two-year term has an annual salary of about $197,000, his office said.

NDP critic Peter Tabuns called it “another ticket on (Ford’s) gravy train.”

Family friend Ron Taverner has been named OPP commissioner, though the appointment has been delayed pending an integrity commissioner probe.