French Fried: Doug Ford’s Chief Of Staff Resigns

NewsSpencerFernando

Resignation comes after complaints from MPPs and dubious appointments to plum posts.

Dean French, Chief of Staff to Ontario Premier Doug Ford, has resigned.

French had increasingly come under fire for his treatment of PC MPPs, even reportedly reducing one of them to tears after a tirade.

The final straw for French was the appointment of two people to plum posts in New York City and London.

As first reported by Global News, the taxpayer-funded patronage positions, with salaries of over $160,000 per year, were given to Tyler Albrecht and Taylor Shields.

Albrecht is a close friend of French’s son, and Shields French’s wife’s cousin.

While Doug Ford rescinded the appointments, there was continued anger towards French.

It may have been possible for French to survive in his post if the criticism was only coming from the left, but many of those who have been supportive of Ford, including myself and columnists like Brian Lilley, said that French’s time was up.

Here’s what I wrote the morning before French resigned:

“So, appointing a friend of the Chief of Staff’s son, and appointing a cousin of the Chief of Staff’s wife to high-paying positions in foreign countries?

That’s about as far from “for the People” as you can get, and it’s the ultimate elitist move – the exact thing the PCs promised to get rid of.

The fact is that if the Ford Government wants to remain in power, they need to show that they are cutting their spending at the top. You can’t ask citizens to sacrifice when the leaders aren’t sacrificing.”

Now, French is heading back to the private sector. In a statement, Ford’s office said “Earlier this afternoon Premier Ford accepted the resignation of his Chief of Staff, Dean French. Mr. French informed the Premier that he will be returning to the private sector after a successful first year of government, as he had always planned.”

The well-respected Canadian Taxpayers Federation had also slammed the appointments:

“I’ve seen some pretty insulting patronage in my time. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one that quite rivals this one.”

This is good news for Ontario PC MPPs, and it’s good news for Ontarians who wanted to see accountability and a swift response to the justified outrage surrounding the terrible patronage appointments.

Spencer Fernando

Photo – YouTube