QUEEN’S PARK — NDP Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath released the following statement in response to the Ford government’s appointment of a new Commissioner for the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP):
“I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to Deputy Chief Thomas Carrique on his appointment as the new OPP commissioner. I look forward to meeting him and wish him well in his new post.
In light of Doug Ford’s record on this file and the public’s lack of confidence in the integrity and transparency of the Ford government, I would expect the minister to provide a full public report on the process it followed in hiring Deputy Chief Carrique.
Ultimately, the appointment of a new commissioner is welcome but does not change the fact that there are important questions still surrounding Doug Ford’s conduct in appointing his close friend Ron Taverner, and it does not give the public confidence Doug Ford has learned his lesson about police independence. A public inquiry into Ford’s meddling in the police force, up to and including the hiring of Ron Taverner and the firing of Brad Blair, is as critical now as it has ever been.”
