Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner was offered the top position at the Ontario Cannabis Store and considered for a deputy minister post in the months leading up to his appointment to the job of Ontario Provincial Police commissioner, sources have told the Star. Taverner, a close friend of Premier Doug Ford, rejected the idea of running the government cannabis store, and longtime bureaucrats at Queen’s Park made it clear the veteran Toronto police divisional officer did not have the normal qualifications to oversee the massive Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.“Doug wanted to do something for Taverner. That is what we were hearing,” said one source. On Wednesday, the Star sent detailed questions about this to numerous top government officials, including the premier; his chief of staff, Dean French; cabinet secretary Steve Orsini; the deputy minister of community safety, Mario Di Tommaso; and Taverner. None of them has responded, even to acknowledge receipt of the Star’s request for an interview.Taverner is to start the job of OPP commissioner on Monday. Two reviews of his appointment have been requested, following separate political interference allegations from both opposition MPPs and the current acting commissioner of the OPP.Ford and Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones have said the selection process was independent and there was no political interference in the appointment of Taverner, 72, as Ontario’s top cop. The government has said it will have Taverner sworn in as planned.Read more: OPP interim commissioner asks ombudsman to review Taverner’s appointment over ‘potential political interference’How Ron Taverner’s resumé compares with the last four OPP commissioners’Opinion | Cohn: How Doug Ford turned the OPP into the Ontario Premier’s PoliceTaverner and the Ford family go back many years. Taverner is the senior officer in the Etobicoke divisions where the premier ...
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