Brad Blair said Tuesday that raising concerns about real or perceived political interference was the right thing to do
TORONTO — A former high-ranking provincial police officer alleges his firing this week was in reprisal for waging a legal battle over the controversial hiring of a long-time friend of Premier Doug Ford as commissioner of the force.
“It is patently clear to me that this is reprisal and an attempt to muzzle me, and that this reprisal is directly connected to my good faith efforts to seek redress before the Divisional Court and the provincial ombudsman,” Blair writes in an affidavit filed Tuesday in court. “The cost of a compromised OPP is too great a price to pay,” he said. “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.”
Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Sylvia Jones denied that Di Tommaso — who is also Taverner’s former boss — was in a conflict of interest. Taverner, 72, initially did not meet the requirements listed for the commissioner position. The Ford government has admitted it lowered the requirements for the position to attract a wider range of candidates.
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