For the first time in two weeks, Ontario Premier Doug Ford addressed the ongoing public appointment scandal that has rocked his government and led to the resignation of his chief of staff.
Ford says he addressed the situation “immediately” after finding out that two people with personal ties to Dean French were given high-paying agent general roles with the Ontario government -- responsible for representing the province in the U.S. and the U.K.
“You know something, I think I addressed that pretty quickly,” Ford said at a joint news conference with other conservative premiers in Calgary.
Over the course of the past two weeks however, other public appointees have been fired or asked to resign after personal ties to French surfaced. Last Thursday, high-ranking civil servant Peter Fenwick was fired and his Strategic Transformation office dissolved after the Toronto Star revealed Fenwick admitted he was a long-time friend and insurance client of French.
While Ford has largely been silent on the situation, his office has released statements announcing a review of all pending appointments while promising to act on prior appointments if cases of nepotism come to light.
Ford, however, says that Ontario residents aren’t “worried” about the public appointments scandal, but are rather more concerned about the economy.
“The people who listen to NewsTalk1010 don’t worry about that,” Ford stated in response to a reporter from the station.
Ford was also asked whether French was fired or asked to resign and simply said “Dean French is no longer here.”
Ford praised his interim chief-of-staff Jamie Wallace as a “great chief.”
“Cabinet gets along with him.”
