TORONTO A top aide to former Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown has lost his job today, weeks after a published report said Premier Doug Ford’s office was meddling in the Crown corporation’s staffing matters.
In an internal memo obtained by The Canadian Press, OPG senior vice-president Jennifer Rowe informs staff of Alykhan Velshi’s dismissal, saying the company has been working with him on a “thoughtful and orderly transition.”
Earlier this month, The Globe and Mail, citing unnamed sources, reported that Velshi was recently hired by the OPG but fired on the day he started after Ford’s chief of staff, Dean French, asked for his removal.
The premier’s spokesman, Simon Jefferies, says that OPG is responsible for its own staffing decisions.
Velshi says in a statement today that the last few months have been difficult “personally and professionally.”
Velshi worked with Brown until the former party leader resigned in January amid allegations of sexual misconduct he has denied.
Opposition parties have called for an investigation into French’s alleged meddling in OPG staffing and Velshi’s subsequent dismissal.