OPP – mackaycartoons

Friday March 8, 2019

March 15, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday March 8, 2019

Tories won’t rule out another friend of Premier Doug Ford as OPP head

An unrepentant Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones is refusing to rule out hiring another pal of Premier Doug Ford as head of the Ontario Provincial Police despite the controversy that derailed the Ron Taverner appointment.

March 6, 2019

Her comments came Thursday as the lawyer for former deputy OPP commissioner Brad Blair — who was fired after blowing the whistle over possible conflicts in the Taverner appointment and a customized van sought by Ford — threatened to sue the province for wrongful dismissal.

An unrepentant Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones is refusing to rule out hiring another pal of Premier Doug Ford as head of the Ontario Provincial Police despite the controversy that derailed the Ron Taverner appointment.

February 28, 2019

Her comments came Thursday as the lawyer for former deputy OPP commissioner Brad Blair — who was fired after blowing the whistle over possible conflicts in the Taverner appointment and a customized van sought by Ford — threatened to sue the province for wrongful dismissal.

“If the government hasn’t learned that yet then we are in big trouble. That’s why a public inquiry is necessary,” Horwath said of her push for Wake to broaden his probe, which has seen Ford and others interviewed privately.

Wake’s report is due in the “near future” and will be posted on the integrity commissioner’s website, said spokeswoman Cathryn Motherwell.

December 5, 2018

Ford, who showed up in the legislature’s question period for the first time this week, has been “tone deaf” to the concerns about police independence, charged Green Leader Mike Schreiner.

“Twenty seven people applied for the job,” Schreiner said. “Surely we can find an OPP commissioner who’s qualified to do the job who’s not friends with the premier, creating an unacceptable conflict of interest.” (Source: Toronto Star)

Wednesday March 6, 2019

March 13, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday March 6, 2019

Doug Ford’s role in OPP turmoil raises questions of political interference

February 28, 2019

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are political opposites who right now share something: both face allegations of political interference in the justice system.

Partisans will no doubt disagree on whose alleged political interference is worse: the federal Liberals’ handling of the SNC-Lavalin corruption case or the provincial Progressive Conservatives’ alleged meddling with the upper echelons of the Ontario Provincial Police.

February 15, 2019

You can read plenty of analysis throughout cbc.ca of why the SNC-Lavalin affair matters, why the testimony of former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould is resonating, and why the Trudeau Liberals are engulfed in a deepening crisis about just how much political pressure they exerted over a criminal case.

Why are Ford’s PCs being accused of interfering with the OPP? The government appointed a close friend of Ford to head the provincial police force, and fired a veteran officer who had produced evidence that Ford tried to influence police operations.

January 12, 2019

Why does it matter?

“The OPP can be called in to investigate provincial politicians, and the citizens of Ontario need to have faith that the OPP is truly independent, above political interference, and free from abuses of power,” said Brad Blair, the deputy commissioner who was fired on Monday after a spotless 32-year career with the OPP.

Animated!

In a written statement Tuesday, Blair said he went public with his concerns about “real and/or perceived political interference” in the force because “the cost of a compromised OPP is too great a price to pay.” (Continued: CBC)

Wednesday December 5, 2018

December 12, 2018 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday December 5, 2018

Integrity watchdog urged to probe appointment of Ron Taverner as OPP commissioner. Taverner is a friend of the Ford family

Controversy is swirling over the Progressive Conservatives’ surprise appointment of a close friend of Premier Doug Ford to head the Ontario Provincial Police.

November 1, 2018

Toronto Police Supt. Ron Taverner, 72, was rubber-stamped by Ford’s cabinet to be OPP commissioner last week.

But iPolitics revealed Tuesday that the government quietly modified the job posting on Oct. 22, and this helped Taverner meet the criteria, as he was two ranks below the initial threshold to qualify for the job.

The original description on the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police website required all applicants to hold, at minimum, the rank of deputy chief or assistant commissioner, iPolitics found.

In the legislature, Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Sylvia Jones, who took the opposition questions after Ford ducked them, defended the unusual change.

“There was an independent hiring process,” said Jones.

“The cabinet endorsed the hiring committee’s decision,” she said.

December 13, 2013

Jones repeatedly refused to say whether Ford had recused himself from the matter when the decision was made last Thursday.

Conservative sources told the Star the premier was at the cabinet table when the order-in-council was signed last Thursday, a point Ford did not deny during a brief encounter with reporters.

“This is a man that’s served 50 years in this community with credibility,” he said, adding that he, himself, “absolutely” did not make the decision.

Taverner, a 51-year police veteran, is a unit commander in charge of Etobicoke divisions and a close friend of the premier. He succeeds Vince Hawkes, 56, who retired earlier this year.

As a Toronto cop, Taverner made $178,968 last year while the OPP commissioner made $275,907. That’s an annual raise of almost $100,000. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Friday December 18, 2015

December 17, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday December 18, 2015

OPP charge two former McGuinty aides in connection with gas plants scandal

Ontario Provincial Police laid criminal charges Thursday against two top aides to former premier Dalton McGuinty in a gas plants scandal that cast a cloud over his final days in power.

David Livingston, McGuinty’s former chief of staff, and Laura Miller, the deputy chief who went on to work for British Columbia Premier Christy Clark, are each charged with breach of trust, mischief in relation to data and misuse of a computer system to commit the offence of mischief.

The charges stem from the destruction of thousands of government emails about the Liberals’ decision to cancel planned gas plants in Oakville and Mississauga prior to the 2011 election. The province’s auditor found the move will cost ratepayers up to $1.1 billion.

March 21, 2013

McGuinty’s lawyer, Ronald Caza, issued a statement Thursday saying the OPP had made clear last June that the former premier was not the subject of their investigation.

“Today’s events again confirm there was no wrongdoing on the part of the former premier,” Caza said.

Miller issued a statement announcing she had stepped down as executive director of the B.C. Liberal Party, and accused the OPP of having a bias against her because of a complaint she filed with the Ontario Independent Police Review Director.

December 18, 2013

The director ordered the OPP commissioner to hold a police misconduct hearing for Det.-Const. Andre Duval, but the commissioner “resisted” this finding by appealing it to the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario, said Miller.

“Officers involved in a substantiated complaint should not have been allowed to continue investigating,” she said in her statement as she vowed to vigorously defend herself against the charges in court.

“Every Canadian expects and deserves impartiality and fairness in police charging decisions. I do not believe that to be the case here.”

Both Livingston and Miller are scheduled to make their first court appearances in Toronto on Jan. 27. Like Miller, Livingston’s lawyer has also denied he did anything wrong. (Source: Canadian Press)