Controversial appointment of Ron Taverner as OPP commissioner cast into further doubt as he heads back to Toronto police job

Thestar.com
December 18, 2018
Rob Ferguson

Ron Taverner’s career path remains cloudy as he resumed the Toronto police job he quit days ago and the government said his controversial appointment as OPP commissioner -- which was postponed over the weekend -- depends on “where the chips fall” in an independent review.

The latest twist in the turbulent saga, which has prompted widespread concerns about potential conflicts of interest given that Taverner is a family friend of Premier Doug Ford, came Monday when Toronto police confirmed the 72-year-old rescinded the resignation he tendered Friday.

Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner, seen here in a 2015 photo, has rescinded his resignation as superintendent of three Etobicoke divisions and will return to his duties, the police force confirmed Monday.

“He’ll be back in his role as unit commander,” Toronto police spokeswoman Caroline de Kloet told the Star.

Chief Mark Saunders gave the go-ahead for that on Sunday night. No one had been tapped to replace Taverner in leading three west-end divisions that include the Ford family turf in Etobicoke.

Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones, who along with the premier has repeatedly defended Taverner’s appointment to the $275,000-a-year job heading Canada’s second-largest police force, ducked reporters’ questions on the situation Monday.

But Government House Leader Todd Smith indicated the Ford administration’s next move awaits the results of a probe -- which could go on for months -- by provincial integrity commissioner J. David Wake.

“We’re going to let the integrity commissioner carry on with his investigation and then we’ll see where the chips fall after that and move on appropriately,” Smith said.

Taverner has not returned a telephone call and an email from the Star seeking comment.

The veteran Toronto police officer said Saturday he was temporarily stepping aside “out of the greatest respect for the brave men and women of the Ontario Provincial Police.” The government agreed to the request and noted it retains “full confidence” in him.

The hiring process raised eyebrows because it included a lowering of qualifications that cleared the way for Taverner, who as a superintendent was below the rank specified in the job posting, to apply.

His appointment has fuelled a political firestorm.

A chorus of critics -- including opposition parties, former RCMP commissioner Bob Paulson and former OPP commissioner Chris Lewis -- said it is dangerous to have a friend of the premier as Ontario’s top cop. They say it sets the stage for conflicts of interest should the government become the subject of any police investigations, as happened so prominently in the gas plants scandal under a previous Liberal regime.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Taverner appears worried his OPP appointment will be “scuttled.”

“This entire situation should never have started in the first place. And it’s because Mr. Ford needs to understand he can’t just get away with doing whatever he wants to do,” added Horwath, whose party called for the integrity commissioner to investigate.

“Hopefully Mr. Ford’s learned something in this process. Mr. Taverner, hopefully, has learned something as well.”

Career police officers with a higher rank than Taverner were rejected in favour of him, including a former Ontario head of the RCMP with more experience in managing a large staff, confirmed one OPP source.

The government rejected a New Democrat motion to appoint a select committee of MPPs, with equal numbers of government and opposition members, to investigate the Taverner hiring process with powers to subpoena witnesses and compel documents in full view of the public, unlike the behind-closed-doors review by Wake.

Ford will be the likely target of the Wake probe, which would investigate whether the premier violated the Members Integrity Act when qualifications for the OPP post were lowered, says former integrity commissioner Coulter Osborne.

“The issue would be whether there is any impropriety,” said Osborne, who is also a former associate chief justice of Ontario.

The time frame for such an investigation varies, said another former integrity commissioner.

“We always try to do it as quickly as possible because people’s reputations are at stake and it’s very contentious,” said Lynn Morrison. “It could be a month, it could be two or three months. It just depends on the nature of the complaint.”

Liberal MPP Nathalie Des Rosiers, a former dean of law at the University of Ottawa, urged Attorney General Caroline Mulroney to appoint an independent investigator to examine any links between the premier’s office and Taverner’s hiring, and the qualifications of all applicants.

“The credibility and public confidence in the police and the justice system are at stake,” she wrote in a letter to Mulroney.

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner called on Taverner to walk away from the OPP appointment permanently, saying there is “too much controversy around this.”

“The bottom line is this is the Ontario Provincial Police, not the premier’s police,” added Schreiner.

“I’m shocked that nobody in the caucus, in the cabinet, in the (Ontario public service), nobody said it’s wrong to appoint one of your family friends police commissioner. It should be obvious.”