The NDP is trying to derail the appointment of Premier Doug Ford’s friend Ron Taverner as commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police by raising a potential conflict of interest on the hiring panel.New Democrat MPP Kevin Yarde is questioning why Taverner’s former boss at the Toronto Police Service — who became deputy minister of community safety and corrections last fall — “did not recuse himself from the decision-making process” given conflict-of-interest guidelines for public servants.“As you are aware, Deputy Minister Mario Di Tommaso played a key role in the search and hiring process,” Yarde wrote Wednesday in a two-page letter to Ontario’s top civil servant, cabinet secretary Steve Orsini.“Among other roles, he sat in on both first- and second-stage job interviews and, according to Premier Doug Ford, recommended Ronald Taverner for the position,” states Yarde, his party’s critic for community safety and corrections. He noted that Taverner publicly praised Di Tomasso’s hiring by the Ford government before applying for the OPP post after the qualification level for applicants was lowered. Read more:Hearing into whether ombudsman should examine Taverner appointment won’t be fast tracked, judge saysIntegrity watchdog has yet to interview Ford over hiring of Taverner as OPP commissionerConcern over conflicts of interest would hurt Ron Taverner in OPP job, policing experts sayYarde cited conflict-of-interest rules under the Public Service of Ontario Act and asked Orsini — who is due to retire at the end of January and serves as the government’s “ethics executive” for deputy ministers under the law — if he knew of the ties between Taverner and Di Tommaso.“The public has a right to know if you were fully briefed on this close relationship before you offered your opinion and, if so, why you felt this did not raise concerns about the appearance of ...
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