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Ron Taverner was considered for other top jobs with province, sources say

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Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner was offered the top position at the Ontario Cannabis Store and considered for a deputy minister post in the months leading up to his appointment to the job of Ontario Provincial Police commissioner, sources have told the Star.

Taverner, a close friend of Premier Doug Ford, rejected the idea of running the government cannabis store, and longtime bureaucrats at Queen’s Park made it clear the veteran Toronto police divisional officer did not have the normal qualifications to oversee the massive Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner was named last month as the new commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police. Two reviews of his appointment have since been requested, after allegations of political interference.
Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner was named last month as the new commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police. Two reviews of his appointment have since been requested, after allegations of political interference.  (BERNARD WEIL / TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO)

“Doug wanted to do something for Taverner. That is what we were hearing,” said one source.

On Wednesday, the Star sent detailed questions about this to numerous top government officials, including the premier; his chief of staff, Dean French; cabinet secretary Steve Orsini; the deputy minister of community safety, Mario Di Tommaso; and Taverner. None of them has responded, even to acknowledge receipt of the Star’s request for an interview.

Taverner is to start the job of OPP commissioner on Monday. Two reviews of his appointment have been requested, following separate political interference allegations from both opposition MPPs and the current acting commissioner of the OPP.

Taverner and the Ford family go back many years. Taverner is the senior officer in the Etobicoke divisions where the premier and other family members live and where the Ford family company, Deco Labels, is located. It has not been unusual for Taverner to be at a backyard barbecue hosted by the Ford family, and he is a frequent attendee of the annual Ford Fest community event.

“There’s no denying the friendship,” said former Etobicoke councillor Suzan Hall, who served with the late Rob Ford when he was a councillor. Hall speaks highly of Taverner, saying the affable cop has been very helpful to community groups in Etobicoke. She said that if ever a group needs equipment or help from officers, “he makes sure” whatever is needed is sent over from 23 Division.

Taverner’s road to the $275,000 OPP job, commanding one of the largest forces in North America, began around the time of the spring election with a decision that created a job opening at the cannabis store.

Under the previous Liberal government, career civil servant Nancy Kennedy was the president of the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS), which was preparing to retail pot through government-owned stores. Doug Ford’s new Progressive Conservative government decided to confine the OCS to online sales, and instead allow privately owned bricks-and-mortar outlets. With the role of the OCS diminished, sources close to Kennedy say she did not want to stay. With a strong financial background from previous jobs, she was asked by the Ford government to return to the public service and was made deputy minister of the Treasury Board secretariat, effective June 29.

Supt. Ron Taverner displays drugs and a gun seized during a police raid in this 2002 photo. Taverner reportedly rejected an offer this year to head the Ontario Cannabis Store. Police sources told the Star that Taverner may not have felt it was a good fit, given his 50-year Toronto police career.
Supt. Ron Taverner displays drugs and a gun seized during a police raid in this 2002 photo. Taverner reportedly rejected an offer this year to head the Ontario Cannabis Store. Police sources told the Star that Taverner may not have felt it was a good fit, given his 50-year Toronto police career.  (Randy Quan*p66 quinn)

That opened up the post of president of the Ontario Cannabis Store. A source close to the discussions said it was offered by government officials to Taverner during the summer, but he declined. The Star does not know why. Taverner, in his 50-year career with the Toronto Police Service, has dealt with and made arrests in many drug cases, often posing as a senior officer in media photo opportunities with bags of illicit drugs. In the 1970s he was part of a joint Toronto-OPP task force investigating biker groups, and police officers have suggested to the Star that Taverner may not have felt it was a good fit for him to be retailing marijuana.

Next up was a suggestion to make Taverner a deputy minister in the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, which presides over police, jails, forensic and fire marshal services across the province.

The Star has no direct verbal or documentary evidence that Ford ordered his staff to find a job for Taverner. However, the Star has information from two sources who say senior bureaucrats close to Ford made it clear to them that Ford wanted to give Taverner a job of some sort. They were never told why. Opposition critics and the acting head of the OPP have suggested there was “political interference” in the selection process.

The Star’s sources spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to speak about these matters and that they feared repercussions in their employment if they spoke on the record. The sources said that in policing and government circles, it was an open secret that a post was being sought for Taverner.

The Star has no direct verbal or documentary evidence that Premier Doug Ford ordered his staff to find a job for Ron Taverner. However, two sources told the Star that senior bureaucrats close to Ford made it clear to them that Ford wanted to give Taverner a job of some sort.
The Star has no direct verbal or documentary evidence that Premier Doug Ford ordered his staff to find a job for Ron Taverner. However, two sources told the Star that senior bureaucrats close to Ford made it clear to them that Ford wanted to give Taverner a job of some sort.  (Kevin Viner)

Over the summer, when the idea of appointing Taverner as deputy minister of community safety was being floated, the position was held by Matt Torigian, a former Waterloo Region police chief. Torigian had been deputy for four years and was highly thought of by the civil service, including cabinet secretary Steve Orsini, the province’s top bureaucrat, who had served under Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne and been asked to stay on by the Ford government.

Sources have told the Star that by August, Torigian had the feeling that he was no longer wanted in the Ford government. The career police officer had spent four years at Community Safety and seven years as Waterloo police chief. He is a graduate of courses at the FBI National Academy. Torigian was offered and accepted an appointment at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy to lead an international initiative on global policing.

During August, sources say, there were discussions at Queen’s Park among Ford staffers that Taverner should become deputy minister. According to sources, Orsini said that would not be a good job for someone with front-line policing but little administrative experience of the type needed to run a ministry with a $2.6-billion budget.

Orsini announced Torigian’s departure from the ministry on Sept. 24, saying on Twitter he wanted to offer Torigian “a big shoutout and congratulations.”

One week later, on Oct. 1, Orsini tweeted out a welcome to the new deputy minister of community safety, Mario Di Tommaso, a career Toronto police officer who at the time was staff superintendent of communities and neighbourhood commands. While some deputy minister openings are posted publicly, others are not, and there appears to have been no job posting for this one. The executive search company the Ford government has been using for other deputy ministers told the Star on Thursday it was not involved in Di Tommaso’s posting.

Di Tommaso began work as deputy minister of community safety on Oct. 22. That same day, the provincial government, through executive search company Odgers Berndtson, released a posting for the job of OPP commissioner. When first released, the posting called for applicants to have a rank that would have excluded an officer at the level of superintendent, such as Taverner.

Two days later, on Oct. 24, that posting was revised, removing the line that stipulated the candidates had to have a minimum rank of deputy police chief or assistant commissioner.

Taverner was appointed OPP commissioner on Nov. 29, prompting an immediate storm of controversy. The NDP’s community safety and correctional services critic, Kevin Yarde, and Leader Andrea Horwath have asked the province’s integrity commissioner to examine the appointment.

“If Taverner’s swearing-in goes ahead on Monday, what will Ford be demanding of him?” Yarde said in a statement from his office Thursday. “It’s critical that police forces operate without political interference and without conflicts of interest — real or perceived.”

Horwath has also asked Taverner to delay assuming the position and is calling for an all-party committee to review the entire appointments process related to the OPP commissioner’s job.

Supt. Ron Taverner, seen here after Rob Ford's death in 2016, is a longtime friend of the Ford family. Suzan Hall, a former city councillor, said Taverner, who oversaw Etobicoke police divisions, has always been very helpful to community groups in the area.
Supt. Ron Taverner, seen here after Rob Ford’s death in 2016, is a longtime friend of the Ford family. Suzan Hall, a former city councillor, said Taverner, who oversaw Etobicoke police divisions, has always been very helpful to community groups in the area.  (Randy Risling)

A Star story following the appointment showed that a former Deco Labels employee, who is now a top political aide to Ford, had sold her Weston house privately to Taverner last year, something opposition MPPs suggested was a sign of a close connection, but which minister Sylvia Jones dismissed as “willing seller, willing buyer.”

On Tuesday, the interim commissioner of the OPP, Brad Blair, who had himself applied for the top job, released a scathing letter to the provincial ombudsman complaining about the selection process. In one instance, he notes that in the first round of interviews, conducted Nov. 12, the three men on the interview panel were Di Tommaso (who he notes was Taverner’s direct supervisor at the Toronto police force), executive search company official Sal Badali, and deputy attorney general Paul Boniferro.

In the next round of interviews with a smaller pool of candidates, on Nov. 20, Ford’s chief of staff, Dean French, was present in place of the deputy attorney general.

Blair, in his letter of complaint to the provincial ombudsman, said that with no explanation, French abruptly left the interview area and he was later told that French would no longer be involved. A source told the Star that French left because Toronto Star reporter Rob Ferguson had just sent questions regarding a story he was working on. The story, published the next day, revealed that French had ordered senior political aides to direct police to raid outlaw cannabis stores the day recreational marijuana became legal, and to show “people in handcuffs.”

The remainder of the interviews were done with a two-person panel. In his letter, Blair said it appears a decision was made later that day on who the next OPP boss would be. The official announcement came out on Nov. 29.

Kevin Donovan can be reached at 416-312-3503 or at kdonovan@thestar.ca. Follow him @_kevindonovan

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Nostalgia and much more with Starburst XXXtreme

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Get a taste of adventure with Starburst XXXtreme based on the legendary NetEnt Game. The nostalgic themes are sure to capture fans of the classic version as they get treated to higher intensity, better visuals, and features. The most significant element of the game is its volatility. Patience will not be an essential virtue considering the insane gameplay, and there is a lot of win potential involved. It retains the original makeup of the previous game while adding a healthy dose of adrenaline. 

Starburst Visuals and Symbols

The game is definitely more conspicuous than before. The setting happens over a 5-reel, 3-row game grid with nine fixed win lines, which function if a succession from the left to the right reel is present. Only those players that that attain the highest win per bet line are paid. From a visual standpoint, the Starburst XXXtreme slots illustrates lightning effects behind the reels, which is not surprising as it is inherited from the original version. Available themes include Classic, Jewels, and Space. The game is also available in both desktop and mobile versions, which is advantageous for players considering the global pandemic. According to Techguide, American gamers are increasingly having more engaging gaming experiences to socialize to fill the gap of in-person interaction. Starburst XXXtreme allows them to fill the social void at a time when there is so much time to be had indoors. 

Starburst XXXTreme Features

Players get to alternate on three features which are Starburst Wilds, XXXtreme Spins, and Random Wilds. The first appears on reels 2,3, or 4. When these land, they expand to cover all positions while also calculating the wins. They are also locked for a respin. If a new one hits, it also becomes locked while awarding another respin. Starburst XXXtreme offers a choice between two scenarios for a higher stake. In one scenario with a ten times stake, the Starburst Wild is set on random on reels 2,3, or 4, and a multiplier starts the respin. The second scenario, which has a 95 times stake, starts with two guaranteed starburst wilds on reels 2,3, or 4. it also plays out using respin game sequence and features. The game also increases the potential with the Random Wilds feature to add Starburst Wilds to a vacant reel at the end of a spin. Every Starburst Wild gives a random multiplier with potential wins of x2, x3, x5, x10, x25, x50, x100, or even x150.

The new feature is sure to be a big hit with the gaming market as online gambling has shown significant growth during the lockdown. AdAge indicates the current casino customer base is an estimated one in five Americans, so Starburst XXXtreme’s additional features will achieve considerable popularity. 

What We Think About The Game

The gambling market has continued to diversify post-pandemic, so it is one of the most opportune times to release an online casino-based game. Thankfully Starburst XXXtreme features eye-catching visuals, including the jewels and space themes. These attract audience participation and make the gameplay inviting. The game also has a nostalgic edge. The previous NetEnt iteration featured similar visuals and gameplay, so the audience has some familiarity with it. The producers have revamped this version by tweaking the features to improve the volatility and engagement. 

That is characterized by the potential win cap of 200,000 times the bet. Starburst XXXtreme does not just give betting alternatives for players that want to go big. The increase of multipliers also provides a great experience. If the respins in the previous version were great, knowing that multipliers can go hundreds of times overtakes the game to a new level. 

Players should get excited about this offering. All of the features can be triggered within a single spin. Whether one plays the standard game or takes the XXXtreme spin route, it is possible to activate all of the features. Of course, the potential 200,000 times potential is a huge carrot. However, the bet size is probably going to be restricted and vary depending on the casino. It is also worth pointing out that a malfunction during the gameplay will void all of the payouts and progress. Overall, the game itself has been designed to provide a capped win of 200,000 times the original bet. 

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‘We’re back’: Montreal festival promoters happy to return but looking to next year

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In downtown Montreal, it’s festival season.

In the city’s entertainment district, a musical act was conducting a sound check on stage Friday evening — the second day of the French-language version of the renowned Just For Laughs comedy festival. Tickets for many of the festival’s free outdoor shows — limited by COVID-19 regulations — were sold out.

Two blocks away, more than 100 people were watching an acoustic performance by the Isaac Neto Trio — part of the last weekend of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique, a celebration of music from the African continent and the African diaspora.

With COVID-19 restrictions continuing to limit capacity, festival organizers say they’re glad to be back but looking forward to next year when they hope border restrictions and capacity limits won’t affect their plans.

Charles Décarie, Just For Laughs’ CEO and president, said this is a “transition year.”

“Even though we have major constraints from the public health group in Montreal, we’ve managed to design a festival that can navigate through those constraints,” Décarie said.

The French-language Juste pour rire festival began on July 15 and is followed by the English-language festival until July 31.

When planning began in February and March, Décarie said, organizers came up with a variety of scenarios for different crowd sizes, ranging from no spectators to 50 per cent of usual capacity.

“You’ve got to build scenarios,” he said. “You do have to plan a little bit more than usual because you have to have alternatives.”

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MELS new major movie studio to be built in Montreal

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MONTREAL — MELS Studios will build a new film studio in Montreal, filling some of the gap in supply to meet the demand of Hollywood productions.

MELS president Martin Carrier said on Friday that MELS 4 studio construction will begin « as soon as possible », either in the fall or winter of next year. The studio could host productions as early as spring 2023.

The total investment for the project is $76 million, with the Quebec government contributing a $25 million loan. The project will create 110 jobs, according to the company.

The TVA Group subsidiary’s project will enable it to stand out « even more » internationally, according to Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau. In the past, MELS Studios has hosted several major productions, including chapters of the X-Men franchise. The next Transformers movie is shooting this summer in Montreal.

Péladeau insisted that local cultural productions would also benefit from the new facility, adding that the studio ensures foreign revenues and to showcase talent and maintain an industry of Quebec producers.

STUDIO SHORTAGE

The film industry is cramped in Montreal.

According to a report published last May by the Bureau du cinéma et de la télévision du Québec (BCTQ), there is a shortage of nearly 400,000 square feet of studio space.

With the addition of MELS 4, which will be 160,000 square feet, the company is filling part of the gap.

Carrier admitted that he has had to turn down contracts because of the lack of space, representing missed opportunities of « tens of millions of dollars, not only for MELS, but also for the Quebec economy. »

« Montreal’s expertise is in high demand, » said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, who was present at the announcement.

She said she received great testimonials from « Netflix, Disney, HBO and company » during an economic mission to Los Angeles in 2019.

« What stands out is that they love Montreal because of its expertise, knowledge and beauty. We need more space, like MELS 4, » she said.

There is still not enough capacity in Quebec, acknowledged Minister of Finance, the Economy and Innovation Eric Girard.

« It is certain that the government is concerned about fairness and balance, so if other requests come in, we will study them with the same seriousness as we have studied this one, » he said.

Grandé Studios is the second-largest player in the industry. Last May, the company said it had expansion plans that should begin in 2022. Investissement Québec and Bell are minority shareholders in the company.

For its part, MELS will have 400,000 square feet of production space once MELS 4 is completed. The company employs 450 people in Quebec and offers a range of services including studio and equipment rentals, image and sound postproduction, visual effects and a virtual production platform.

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