Dean French, who resigned as Premier Doug Ford’s chief of staff Friday after a patronage scandal, has now also parted ways with the Progressive Conservative re-election campaign.

French had embarrassed Ford by trying to install his wife’s cousin and his son’s friend in six-figure overseas government postings on Thursday.

Eighteen hours later, the premier revoked the appointments and, on Friday night, the embattled chief of staff stepped down.

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The cronyism fiasco continues to roil the Tories, many of whom are distancing themselves from French.

As first disclosed by the Star, French has now also left Ford’s 2022 re-election team.

“Mr. French is no longer part of the election readiness committee. He has returned to the private sector,” Marcus Mattinson, the Ontario PC Party director of communications, said Monday.

But some Tory staffers said they were stunned when French showed up at work again on Monday morning despite having resigned last week.

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“He’s in the building right now,” a startled PC insider told the Star at 10 a.m.

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French allegedly “read the Riot Act to all (premier’s office) staff and then in a separate meeting with chiefs,” said the source, speaking confidentially in order to discuss internal discussions.

“The implied threat was, ‘Make no mistake, I still control things,’” the insider said.

Three senior officials in the premier’s office strongly disputed that account and insisted French did not assert his authority because he no longer has any.

They said he briefly attended two meetings to bid farewell to former colleagues and was greeted warmly.

“Dean French came to Queen’s Park this morning to pack up his office. He said goodbye to staff, thanked them for their hard work and continued service to the premier and the people of Ontario,” the premier’s office said in a statement Monday. “Dean French is returning to the private sector.”

Other staffers took to Twitter to rally behind their former boss.

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“He thanked us all for everything we’ve done over our historic first year in government. Any suggestion otherwise is B.S.,” tweeted one minister’s chief of staff.

Another ministerial chief of staff corroborated the version of Monday’s events offered by the premier’s office.

“I was there. Dean got a standing ovation from the chiefs,” the top aide said.

Still, yet another high-ranking Tory said the situation in the premier’s office remains chaotic, noting it is highly unusual for staffers who depart in controversy to even be allowed back in the building.

“When you leave a job under a cloud, you’re kind of supposed to stay away,” said the insider, who was incredulous that French was in staff meetings.

French, an Etobicoke insurance broker and long-time Ford pal, quit Friday after two cabinet ministers urged the premier to fire him.

“They told Doug, ‘It is time for Dean to go,’” a senior PC insider said Friday.

Five other ministers were also set to personally pressure Ford.

The premier got the message and his office said he “accepted the resignation.”

“I want personally to thank Dean for his hard work, his leadership and his friendship. I wish Dean the very best in his future,” Ford said in a statement Friday night.

Deputy chief of staff Jamie Wallace will serve as the interim chief of staff until a permanent replacement is found. Wallace is a former Queen’s Park press gallery president and well-regarded political veteran who also served as the top editor at the Sun newspaper chain.

French caused numerous headaches for Ford over his turbulent year as chief of staff before controversy erupted last week over the now-revoked patronage posts.

Tyler Albrecht, a friend of French’s son who graduated from university three years ago, was appointed as Ontario’s agent-general in New York, while Taylor Shields, a cousin of French’s wife and an assistant vice-president at Chubb Insurance, was named to the same role in London, England.

The three-year appointments pay $164,910 (Canadian) annually in the U.S., and $185,000 per year in the U.K.

It emerged that posts on Albrecht’s Facebook account dating back to 2012, when he was a teenager, included the words “fag” and “no homo.” Images of the posts were captured before they were removed from Facebook on Thursday as Albrecht’s appointment was announced.

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After axing the two French connections, Ford’s office denounced the Facebook posts.

Neither Albrecht nor Shields have returned repeated messages from the Star seeking comment.

French has also been unavailable.

The premier’s office emphasized Monday that it is not aware of any other potentially problematic appointments.

Ford was caught off-guard by the two French appointees, but two of Ontario’s other new agents-general are known to the premier. Former PC party president Jag Badwal, a realtor, will represent the province in Dallas, Texas, and Earl Provost, a former Ontario Liberal party executive director and chief of staff to the late Rob Ford when he was Toronto’s mayor, is being dispatched to Chicago.

The premier was furious that the French patronage appointments overshadowed Thursday’s sweeping cabinet shuffle, which was designed to reboot a sputtering government.

Twelve ministers were moved — including Vic Fedeli, who was replaced as finance minister by Rod Phillips — and six new portfolios were created as cabinet increased by 33 per cent to 28 members, including Ford.

As the Star reported two weeks ago, PC MPPs have privately complained to the premier about a “culture of fear” they blamed on French.

The complaints came after he loudly scolded a female MPP on June 6 in front of the premier, other members and PC staffers during a caucus meeting.

The rookie GTA MPP broke down in tears and was inconsolable for five minutes, leading Ford to assure MPPs the next day that they “should be treated with respect.”

Ford’s office confirmed the incident and said French went to the MPP and “apologized and they had an excellent conversation.”

French is also suing Independent MPP Randy Hillier for defamation, and seeking $100,000 in a damages, over a series of tweets by Hillier that accused him of illegally destroying ballots in last year’s PC leadership race.

In his statement of defence, Hillier (Lanark-Frotenac-Kingston) described French as a “mercurial” man waging a “personal vendetta” against him.

The veteran MPP was ejected from the PC caucus in March after complaining to Ford about French.

Last November, on the day before marijuana sales became legal, French ordered senior aides to direct police to raid illegal cannabis stores. He reportedly said he wanted to see “people in handcuffs.”

Staff balked at the order, with one of them noting, “We’re not a police state. We don’t have the right or the ability to direct police to do anything.”