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Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones denies there was political involvement in the firing of deputy OPP commissioner Brad Blair who challenged the government’s handling of the new chief’s hiring.

“I was notified; I was not asked for permission. I was not asked for advice,” Jones said of the decision to terminate Blair.

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Opposition MPPs called for a full airing of the decision which they argued smacked of political revenge. Blair had launched legal action to get the ombudsman’s office to review the decision to hire Toronto Police Supt. Ron Taverner as the next chief of the OPP.

Liberal MPP Nathalie Des Rosiers formally asked justice committee Chair Parm Gill to call Jones’ deputy minister, Mario Di Tommaso, to explain the process that was followed to fire Blair.

“(Was) Di Tommaso asked by his minister or by the premier’s office or did he inform them of the fact that he was preparing to go and lay disciplinary charges in front of the Public Service Commission?” Des Rosiers said. “We don’t know what triggered this dismissal.”