OPP Brad Blair has been fired from his role as deputy commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police.

TORONTO — The firing of a high-ranking provincial police officer waging a legal battle over the controversial appointment of Ontario's top cop renewed accusations of political interference Monday that the government denied. Deputy commissioner Brad Blair has asked the courts to force the provincial ombudsman to investigate the hiring of Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner, a long-time friend of Premier Doug Ford, as the new OPP commissioner. He is also threatening to sue Ford, alleging the premier damaged his reputation when Ford accused him of breaking the Police Services Act by speaking out against Taverner's hiring. Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Sylvia Jones said the decision to fire Blair came from the public service. "There was zero political influence on this decision,'' Jones said. "For me to start questioning my deputy minister would have been absolutely inappropriate.''

HuffPost Canada Owned Ontario Minister of Community Safety Sylvia Jones speaks during question period at Queen's Park on Feb. 26, 2019.

Shortly after a press conference in which after Jones refused to divulge the reasons for the firing, she stood in the legislature to say Blair had been warned about releasing confidential OPP information late last year. He then did it again through subsequent filings in his case involving the ombudsman, she said. Deputy minister Mario Di Tommaso wrote in a memo on Friday that he had recommended the termination to the Public Service Commission because Blair had contravened "his legal and ethical responsibilities as a deputy commissioner and senior public servant.'' A day earlier, the president of the Ontario Provincial Police Association had written to Di Tommaso expressing concern that Blair's public court filings, including internal OPP documents, have had adverse impacts on his members, in particular a protection officer for Ford. Di Tommaso is also a former boss of Taverner's and was part of the three-person hiring panel that selected Taverner as OPP commissioner. Taverner, 72, initially did not meet the requirements listed for the commissioner position. The Ford government has admitted it lowered the requirements for the position to attract a wider range of candidates. His appointment has been delayed until the integrity commissioner completes an investigation into his hiring.

The Canadian Press Toronto Police Superintendent Ron Taverner is seen in a 2012 file photo.