The integrity commissioner has yet to interview Premier Doug Ford in the ongoing probe into the Progressive Conservative government’s hiring of a Ford family friend as OPP chief, sources told the Star.

J. David Wake, the legislature’s ethics watchdog, is investigating whether there was political interference in the controversial appointment of Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner to head the provincial force.

While Ford has denied any involvement in the posting, his government’s Nov. 29 naming of Taverner, 72, to be Ontario Provincial Police commissioner has sparked concerns about the independence and credibility of the OPP in the future.

“Nobody in the premier’s office — or the premier himself — has been interviewed by the integrity commissioner,” confided a senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal matters.

“But we sincerely want to get this underway and wrapped up as quickly as possible,” the insider said Thursday, emphasizing Ford and Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones have always said they would co-operate with the review.

Wake, whose office has declined to comment on the status of the probe other than to confirm it is an active investigation, is looking into the Taverner affair in response to a complaint by New Democrat MPP Kevin Yarde (Brampton North) under the Members’ Integrity Act.

Yarde asked the integrity commissioner to intervene over concern Ford may have violated the act when “his long-time family friend and ally” was named head of the OPP.

That probe is happening at the same time as an OPP deputy commissioner is headed to court to force the ombudsman to step in.

Brad Blair, who was interim OPP commissioner until going public with complaints about the Taverner hiring, wants ombudsman Paul Dubé to review the OPP commissioner hiring process.

Blair’s Divisional Court case kicks off Monday in Toronto.

Dubé has refused to investigate, insisting the matter is beyond his jurisdiction.

But Blair’s lawyer, Julian Falconer, has filed an application for the court to “determine and enforce the jurisdiction” of the ombudsman.

While the integrity commissioner is also looking at any political interference, Falconer argues that report is likely to be ineffective because any recommendations would have to go to MPPs for a vote.

“As the government of the day holds a majority… it would be unlikely that any findings of wrongdoing would be upheld,” Falconer wrote in his motion filed with the court.

“If the ombudsman does not review the complaint, the OPP will continue to operate under a cloud of suspicion,” the lawyer warned.

The force has had to investigate sensitive political matters before — most notably, concerns raised by the Conservatives about a previous Liberal government deleting documents related to the closure of gas-fired power plants in Oakville and Mississauga before the 2011 provincial election.

A top Liberal political aide was convicted on a criminal charge and sentenced to four months in jail, although he is seeking an appeal of the term.

Taverner, a 51-year police veteran, asked that his appointment be postponed during the integrity commissioner’s investigation. In the meantime, he has returned to his old job overseeing three police divisions in Etobicoke

Blair was a runner-up for the top job at the OPP and the premier has dismissed his nine-page complaint to Dubé as “sour grapes.”

“I get it that he’s upset that he didn’t win a fair process. I understand,” Ford has said.

In Blair’s letter to Dubé, he alleged the premier’s chief of staff, Dean French, asked the OPP “to purchase a large camper-type vehicle … modified to specifications the premier’s office would provide us” and keep the costs “off the books.”

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But Ford has called that “a baseless claim without merit.”

“That’s just not accurate whatsoever. I asked if they had a used one,” the premier said at Dec. 18.

He has not said why he needed the van or why his office allegedly wanted the costs of customizing the van kept hidden. His OPP security detail currently drives him in the same black SUV used by previous premiers.

Robert Benzie is the Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

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