No to a team of cronies

The men and women who lead our police forces should be free of any suspicion that they’re likely to be swayed by political influence.

That much is obvious, and in Ontario it’s especially true for the biggest force in the province, the one that’s the first to be called in when there’s wrongdoing by politicians or government officials.

So it’s no wonder eyebrows are being raised over the appointment of a man known as a long-time personal friend of the Ford family as the new commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

There’s no doubt Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner has vast policing experience after more than 50 years on the force.

But that wasn’t the first thing that came to mind when Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones announced that Taverner would take over leadership of the OPP, with its 6,000 officers and almost 3,000 civilian employees, on Dec. 17. Rather, it was Taverner’s longstanding and well-known association with Premier Doug Ford, his late bother Rob Ford, and the entire family from his long service as commander of the Toronto police units covering Etobicoke, where the family is based. By all accounts this is more than a cordial professional relationship. The Star’s Betsy Powell reports that Taverner got to know Rob Ford while Ford was a city councillor representing an Etobicoke ward and Taverner was a senior officer in the area.

Taverner also attended the famous Ford family barbeques, met regularly with the brothers, and went on a trip to see a hockey game in Chicago with Doug Ford and police Chief Mark Saunders in 2016. It’s all a bit too cozy, or at least it certainly looks that way. Especially when Taverner’s promotion jumps him up several ranks and over the senior leadership of the OPP.

There are also questions about how Toronto police handled the investigation into Rob Ford’s activities while he was mayor. Then-chief Bill Blair made sure that a separate set of officers under the code name Project Brazen 2, not connected with the Etobicoke units overseen by Taverner, took the lead in investigating potential criminal activity by Rob Ford and others. As Blair knew, it was crucial to maintain public confidence in the investigation by doing everything possible to avoid even perceived conflicts of interest.

That’s what’s at risk in the Ford government’s appointment of Taverner as commissioner of the OPP. Chris Lewis, who headed the OPP from 2010 to 2014, said late last week that “the fix” was in on the appointment process because of Taverner’s close ties to the Ford family. “There’s old relationships there, we all know it, and I think it is a travesty this occurred,” Lewis told CP24.

All this leaves aside legitimate questions about whether Taverner, as 72-year-old veteran officer who has operated in Etobicoke for many years, is best suited to lead a provincewide force that is the second-largest in the country after the RCMP. It isn’t the most forward-looking appointment.

Beyond that, there’s a worrisome pattern developing of Doug Ford leaning on organizations that should have an armslength relationship with the government of the moment to ensure people close to him get the top jobs.

At Hydro One, he is reportedly in a standoff with independent directors over the new CEO of the company. Independent directors want to name one of three hydro executives from British Columbia while the premier is said to be pushing his own candidates, including the head of Toronto Hydro, Anthony Haines, whom he got to know when he was on Toronto city council.

Ontario doesn’t need a government of cronies, appointed to the top of corporations or police forces on the basis of their loyalty to the province’s political leadership. Ontarians deserve to know that when push comes to shove, senior public servants will act in the interests of the public. Their confidence will be shaken the more it looks as if personal ties are what really matters.

Ontarians deserve to know that senior public servants will act in the interests of the public