Premier Doug Ford makes his first appearance in the Legislative Assembly in four days as the PC government gets questioned on their autism plan in the Queen's Park Legislative Assembly at Queen's Park in Toronto. March 7, 2019. Steve Russell/Toronto Star

TORONTO—Premier Doug Ford and his government are admitting no mistake in appointing Ford-friend Ron Taverner to the OPP and are instead blaming the “police-hating” NDP for forcing Taverner to quit.

Taverner asked the government to pull his name from contention for OPP commissioner on Wednesday. He was appointed to the job in November, but his installation was postponed pending a conflict of interest review into the appointment.

[READ MORE: Ron Taverner quits as next OPP commissioner]

On Thursday, the premier appeared in the legislature for the first time this week and immediately went on the offensive.

“I want to thank the leader of the police-hating party for the question,” Ford said at the beginning of his answer to the NDP’s call for a public inquiry.

Taverner’s appointment has been gripped by an ever-growing controversy since it was first announced. In quick succession, iPolitics reported that: Taverner was only able to apply for the job after the qualifications were lowered, Ford admitted he didn’t recuse himself from the final decision, and then deputy OPP commissioner Brad Blair filed a complaint about the hiring process, launched a lawsuit, and then was fired.

[READ MORE: Fired OPP commander vindicated by Taverner’s withdrawal, Lawyer says]

The Monday firing of Blair — who the government says improperly released confidential information — propelled the issue into the spotlight again this week.

Ford was mum on it all until Thursday’s question period and he has yet to take reporter questions on the issue.

“On behalf of our government, I want to thank Ron Taverner for putting his name forward,” Ford told the legislature.

“I can tell you, after 50 years of an impeccable record, I found it disgusting, Mr. Speaker, how he was berated. He was attacked by the Opposition — personally attacked.”

“Apparently the premier wasn’t paying attention,” NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said in response. “It was him we were attacking, not Ron Taverner or anybody else.”

Similarly, outside of the legislature, Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones told reporters that Taverner’s withdrawal had nothing to do with anything her government did or how the appointment was made but rather because of “completely inappropriate” comments from the NDP.

“They continuously suggested that he was in some way unqualified for a job that frankly everyone who’s involved in the hiring process believed he was,” she said.

“He was 100 per cent qualified.”

[READ MORE: Qualifications lowered for OPP commissioner job, allowing Ford family friend to apply]

Jones also didn’t rule out the possibility that the next OPP commissioner also wont be a Ford friend.

“I’m not going to presuppose who the next commissioner is,” she said.

“I believe that the process was absolutely appropriate and when the integrity commissioner releases his report, we’ll have more details on that.”

The NDP and Green Party again repeated their calls for a public inquiry into the matter.

The government hasn’t yet said what process will be used to hire the next OPP commissioner.

Asked what is should look like, Horwath said “it needs to be a completely independent process, it can’t have Doug Ford’s finger prints all over it, it can’t be a friend of the family, it can’t be somebody who has to have the qualifications reduced just so that they can qualify and it has to be completely separate from the government.”

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