Ontario’s top civil servant is facing questions over the interview process for the position of Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) commissioner and whether a member of the panel declared a professional and personal relationship with the candidate who eventually got the job.
Rob Taverner, a longtime family friend of Premier Doug Ford, was appointed commissioner in late November. The selection sparked accusations of possible political interference.
Ford maintains that an independent panel interviewed and recommended Taverner to be Ontario’s next top cop, paving the way for cabinet approval.
However a new letter from NDP MPP Kevin Yarde to Cabinet Secretary Steve Orsini questions whether one of the interviewers declared a perceived conflict of interest.
“I am writing to raise a concern about the process that led to the appointment of Ronald Taverner to the position of OPP commissioner and specifically to clarify why Mario Di Tommaso, the deputy minister of community safety, did not recuse himself from the decision-making process,” the letter reads.
Di Tommaso was appointed to his role in October.
The position allowed him to interview the candidates for commissioner, along with Orsini and a hiring firm.
Prior to his deputy minister job, Di Tommaso was a senior officer with Toronto Police, most recently working as the head of Central and West Field command, according to a Toronto Police Service biography. The position would have put him directly in charge of Supt. Ron Taverner at 14 Division over the past five years.
Di Tommaso has also been pictured at social events with Taverner and Ford as recently as June 2018, when the three men participated in the Toronto police chief’s golf invitational.
Yarde’s letter states that Di Tommaso played a “key role” in the hiring process for the OPP’s top job and participated in the first and second stage interviews, eventually recommending Taverner for the position.
“The premier, who is close friends with Taverner, insists that this was an arms-length process,” the letter reads, noting that Ford is currently being investigated by the integrity commissioner over potential violations of the integrity act.
The letter asks Orsini, who is due to retire from the Ontario Public Service at the end of January, whether he was fully briefed on the relationship and why it did not raise concerns about the “appearance of preferential treatment.”
Neither Di Tommaso nor Orsini responded to requests for comment.
Taverner’s appointment was delayed at his request, to give the integrity commissioner time to finish an investigation.
