Haste makes waste.

A Toronto Liberal MPP is urging Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford to “slow down” and be more methodical to avoid snafus like the botched appointment of former Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion as a $150,000-a-year adviser.

“The government just can’t have a fly-by-night appointment process that’s not properly vetted,” Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter (Scarborough-Guildwood) said Thursday.

“It needs to be a more open and transparent process,” said Hunter.

On Jan. 18, Ford lauded the hiring of McCallion, 97, as his special adviser on housing supply for up to $150,000 a year.

After enduring criticism for that compensation package, the premier said Wednesday morning that she would not take a salary and was “going to be a great asset at no cost.”

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But hours later, McCallion said “due to my extensive commitments, I am unable to accommodate the extensive time required for such an appointment at this point in time.”

“As a result, I will not be accepting the formal appointment and the per diem that goes along with it,” she said.

Hunter said the Tories, who defeated the Liberals in the June election, are gaining a reputation of moving too quickly without considering the consequences.

“Frankly, it’s a pattern with the Ford government where they sort of rush ahead with headlines and announcements without actually doing the work of ‘how are we going to implement this,’” she said.

“Look at the Taverner case as well, where there’s a rush to appoint a friend to a critical position, head of the OPP, and it’s just caused no end of questions of why this is the right process or the right individual.”

That’s a reference to the Nov. 29 controversial hiring of Ford’s friend, Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner, 72, to be commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police.

Taverner is in limbo right now as integrity commission J. David Wake investigates whether there was political meddling in the appointment.

Asked on Wednesday if he would abide by Wake’s recommendations, Ford was non-committal.

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“The integrity commissioner’s going to go through that. I have a great deal of respect for him. I’ll be sitting down and listening to what he has to say … I think he’s doing a great job, by the way,” he said.

The premier shrugged off concerns raised about the Taverner appointment by policing experts and critics, who fear having his pal as OPP commissioner could undermine the independence of the force.

“I travel across the province. The only people who talk about it is the media,” said Ford.

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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