Ford’s aide asked OPG to fire Patrick Brown’s former chief of staff: report
Posted November 13, 2018 1:59 pm.
Last Updated November 13, 2018 7:09 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A scandal is brewing in Doug Ford’s office, reportedly about a former member of Patrick Brown’s team being let go from a new job at the Ontario Power Generation (OPG).
Brown’s former chief of staff Alykhan Velshi was fired on his first day working at OPG after Ford’s top staffer Dean French asked that he be removed, according to the Globe and Mail quoting unnamed sources.
Velshi had been hired as Vice President of OPG this fall.
The Toronto Star is reporting the taxpayers will be on the hook for up to $500,000 in severance because of this move.
The NDP grilled Ford during Question Period on Tuesday.
“Can the premier tell us how much of the public’s money Mr. Velshi be taking home for his 24 hours on the job?” MPP Chris Glover asked.
In response, Ford said the OPG is responsible for doing their own hiring — a statement echoed by the Ontario Minister of Energy, Greg Rickford.
“OPG is a crown corporation and they make their own staffing decisions,” Rickford said.
But that didn’t sit well with some members of the house.
“For a government that says that you care so much about respecting taxpayers, this just doesn’t seem right,” Marie-France Lalonde – Liberal MPP for Orleans, said.
Velshi resigned as Brown’s chief of staff when the former PC Leader was forced to step down following sexual misconduct allegations.
