Probe into OPP boss’s hiring widens

The investigation into the Progressive Conservative government’s controversial hiring of Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner as OPP commissioner has now included Community Safety and Corrections Minister Sylvia Jones.

Jones confirmed Tuesday she was interviewed by provincial integrity commissioner J. David Wake as he probes allegations of political interference in the appointment of Taverner, 72, a longtime friend of Premier Doug Ford.

“I answered the questions the integrity commissioner asked,” she said in Oakville where she was announcing an overhaul of police services legislation. She declined to comment further.

Jones sidestepped a question on why qualifications for the top Ontario Provincial Police job were lowered two days after the initial posting, creating a path for Taverner to apply for the post heading Canada’s second-largest police force.

“I’m going to leave the report and the investigation to the integrity commissioner. As you know, he is an independent officer of the legislature.”

Ford has not been interviewed by Wake, the premier’s office said. Although Ford has denied involvement in the hiring, the government’s Nov. 29 appointment of Taverner — now on hold at his request pending the investigation — has raised concerns about the independence and credibility of the OPP.

The integrity commissioner’s office has declined to comment on the investigation launched following a complaint by New Democrat MPP Kevin Yarde (Brampton North) under the Members’ Integrity Act.

The government has repeatedly defended Taverner, a 51year police veteran, as the best candidate for the job but policing experts have expressed grave concerns about the impact on the force, which has had to investigate sensitive political matters in the past.

A case in point is the OPP investigation of a previous Liberal government and deleted documents in the wake of the closure of two natural gas-fired power plants in Oakville and Mississauga before the 2011 provincial election that saw then-premier Dalton McGuinty reduced to a minority government.

A top aide to McGuinty was subsequently convicted on a criminal charge and sentenced to four months in jail. McGuinty was not a subject of the investigation and co-operated with police.