Shielding accuser was priority: Ford
TRENTON, ONT. — Premier Doug Ford says he did not reveal former cabinet minister Jim Wilson abruptly resigned Friday over sexual misconduct allegations to protect the privacy of the accuser.
Denying NDP charges there was a “cover up” of the true reason for the dramatic departure, Ford said Wednesday he personally approved a press release stating the veteran legislator was leaving only to seek treatment for “addiction issues.”
“When we sat down with the person that gave the allegations, they repeatedly asked us not to make this a media story,” the premier told reporters in his first public comments since the scandal began unfolding at 6 p.m. Friday.
“It takes courage to come forward to put truth to power and I commend them,” Ford added, speaking of Wilson’s accuser and others who made sexual misconduct allegations about Andrew Kimber, the premier’s former executive director of issues management and legislative affairs, who also left the government suddenly Friday.
“They’re a priority … with all due respect to the media, they trump the media.”
Ford said an independent firm, which he would not name, was hired “immediately” Friday to conduct investigations of the allegations against Wilson and Kimber. Investigators have begun interviewing people. He added the accusers are free to “go to the police if they wanted to. They haven’t as of yet. They don’t want to.”
The departure of Kimber was not mentioned in the Wilson press release, which also stated the minister had gone a step further from resigning his portfolio to quit the Progressive Conservative caucus. Wilson, a Tory MPP since 1990, will sit as an independent.
“He was asked to resign,” Ford said of Wilson, noting that if the minister had not quit “he would have been fired immediately” and that his addiction “is a real issue.”
The premier declined to reveal his conversation with Wilson but added “he understood … the situation. He understood he needed to leave the party.”
Ford, who was at the air force museum at CFB Trenton to talk about an upcoming program to help members of the military in Ontario, also had stern words for Kimber.
“He lasted about a minute when we found out,” the premier said before referencing both men. “They’re gone, they’re done. See ya later.”
But Ford would not commit to publicly releasing the results of the third-party investigation of the two men and could not provide a time line for how long it would take.
“We’re going to turn over every single stone, talk to every single person and that takes a while.”
Ford stressed he has “zero tolerance” for sexual misconduct in the government and said workers have the right to feel safe in their jobs.
NDP MPP Sara Singh (Brampton Centre) said the premier “absolutely could have been honest and told Ontarians that there were serious allegations against his most senior minister — and could have done that without revealing the identity of anyone impacted.”
“Protecting a victim of sexual misconduct is the right thing to do. Protecting a powerful man accused of sexual misconduct isn’t. Pretending that those things are at odds with each other is wrong,” said Singh. “Our thoughts are with anyone impacted by Mr. Wilson’s alleged misconduct. We believe it’s absolutely right to protect their identity and their privacy if that’s their wish. And we continue to think it’s wrong that Mr. Ford tried to protect the person that allegedly hurt them,” she said.
Wilson was the premier’s most experienced minister and Kimber one of Ford’s top advisers. Sources told the Star that Wilson stepped down from cabinet and caucus after a complaint from a male PC staffer about inappropriate behaviour. Similarly, Kimber, the premier’s executive director of issues management and legislative affairs, left Friday after it emerged that texts of a sexual nature had been sent to female PC staffers in the past.
The minister’s exit triggered a cabinet shuffle Monday, which was held behind closed doors at Queen’s Park early in the morning to avoid media attention.