Ford isn't Trump, Ontario isn't America

Vincent J. curtis

14 Dec 2018

RE: Appointment of Ford friend Ron Tavener to be head of OPP

(N.B.  Mr. Tavener is presently a senior member of the Toronto Police Department)

The Spectator calls for a review of the appointment of Ron Taverner as head of the OPP.  The grounds for a review are that Taverner is a family friend of Premier Ford, and it is suspected that Ford interfered in the appointment process “for his own political benefit.”

(Let's analyze that briefly.  Why wouldn't a Premier appoint someone for political benefit?  If the appointee screws up, then the "benefit" redounds against him, doesn't it.  I've never heard of an appointment made because it hurts the Premier.  Of course a politician is going to appoint a qualified person whom he knows.  The whole premise smacks of unaware partisanship against Ford.)

Ford emphatically denied involvement, but let’s assume he made the appointment personally.  In our constitutional system, who can review the Premier’s appointment?  Not the Lieutenant Governor, for Ford would have acted in her name.  An unelected, unaccountable judge?  Do you believe in democratic government or not?

The staffing of the OPP is routine administrative business of the Ontario government.  Ford’s Conservatives were elected to run that government, and they will be accountable for their actions and choices in the next election.  Why the call for an undemocratic review of a decision made by the leaders whom we chose democratically to make that decision?

Save the legislature itself, our constitutional system has no authority higher than the government, as was suddenly discovered when the Notwithstanding Clause was invoked.  Nothing has the authority – nor should it - to arbitrarily revoke or review a routine administrative decision of the government, other than by law, and certainly not in the ad hoc fashion advocated by the Spectator.

Ford isn’t Trump, and Ontario isn’t America.  Our constitutions are different.  In ours, the government has the right, the responsibility, and the authority to govern.  And the people periodically review who staffs the government.

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