Taxpayers will be on the hook for a severance payment of up to $500,000 after Premier Doug Ford’s chief of staff ordered the ouster of a Progressive Conservative executive at Ontario Power Generation.Three Conservatives sources confirmed to the Star what was first reported Monday by the Globe and Mail — that Dean French phoned OPG chair Bernard Lord to demand that Alykhan Velshi be removed from the Crown utility.French’s call to Lord, a former Tory premier of New Brunswick, came just as Velshi, who was chief of staff to both ex-PC leader Patrick Brown and interim leader Vic Fedeli, was starting his new job as OPG’s vice president of corporate affairs and community relations.Read more: Top staff and directors at Ontario electricity agencies given legal protection for implementing hydro rate cut, committee toldWind energy company accuses PC government of aiding Liberal ‘cover up’Brampton Mayor-elect Patrick Brown addresses apparent rift with Doug Ford and ToriesVelshi, also once a key aide to former Tory prime minister Stephen Harper, is still on the job at the electricity generator, but sources say the terms of his departure are being negotiated and could take effect in the New Year.“It’s going to cost at least $500,000,” said one Conservative insider, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal deliberations.Reached by the Star on Tuesday, Velshi referred all inquiries to OPG’s media relations department.In an impish GIF posted to his Twitter account after the Globe story was published Monday night he depicted a Detroit Red Wings hockey player scoring a goal on his own net.“We don’t discuss individual employee matters,” Neal Kelly, an OPG spokesman, said in an email.Ford repeatedly dodged queries about his chief of staff’s actions during the legislature’s daily question period.“OPG is responsible for doing their own hiring,” the premier insis ...
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