Ontario's Premier Accountability Dashboard · Queen's Park Watch
Brad Blair
OPP Deputy Commissioner who served as Interim OPP Commissioner in late 2018. He applied for the permanent commissioner role and, after Ron Taverner was selected, asked a court to order the provincial Ombudsman to investigate. The Ford government fired him in March 2019, citing a breach of oath. Blair filed a $15-million wrongful dismissal suit and a $5-million defamation suit against Ford — the defamation suit was eventually dismissed up to the Supreme Court level.
Connected Scandals
Within months of taking office, Doug Ford tried to install his personal friend and longtime family confidant as Ontario's top cop — quietly lowering the job qualifications to fit him, corrupting the hiring process through his own chief of staff, and spending $40,000 on an executive search that was effectively rigged from the start.
Served as Interim OPP Commissioner and applied for the permanent role. After being passed over for Taverner, Blair challenged the appointment in court, triggering the Integrity Commissioner's investigation. Ford's government fired him for releasing confidential OPP information in his Ombudsman letter — a firing Blair called politically motivated.