Ontario's Premier Accountability Dashboard · Queen's Park Watch
Ron Taverner
Retired Toronto Police Superintendent and 51-year TPS veteran. Childhood friend of Premier Doug Ford. Appointed OPP Commissioner in November 2018 after the government quietly lowered the job posting's minimum qualifications to make him eligible. Withdrew from the role in March 2019 amid an Integrity Commissioner investigation.
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.
Named as OPP Commissioner despite not meeting the original posted qualifications — qualifications Ford's government had quietly lowered weeks before he applied. The Integrity Commissioner found the hiring process "flawed." Taverner withdrew in March 2019 citing "the controversy."