Premier Doug Ford's cabinet has moved to appoint Kevin Yarde to an almost $500-a-day taxpayer-footed tribunal gig.
The previous MPP for Brampton North dramatically split from the NDP and informally backed the PCs in the lead-up to the 2022 election, which saw the New Democrats' electoral support collapse in the region.
Yarde's appointment to the Licence Appeal Tribunal got cabinet's sign-off last Friday.
A spokesperson for Attorney General Doug Downey, who is officially responsible for Yarde's appointment, didn't respond to questions sent by email about it before a Thursday afternoon deadline.
Yarde didn't respond to a direct message on Twitter asking to discuss his pending appointment. However, the message was seen, according to Twitter.
Authority over Yarde's appointment now passes to the Standing Committee on Government Agencies. MPPs on the committee could call Yarde to appear before them to justify his appointment. But that's unlikely to happen, given that it's Progressive Conservative MPPs who control the committee with their majority of seats.
Just a few weeks ago, PC MPPs on the committee effectively blocked former PC MPP Jeremy Roberts from having to appear to talk about a $135,000-a-year tribunal appointment that he was given.
Roberts was the only PC MPP who ran for re-election this spring and lost. He's becoming the full-time vice-chair of the Licence Appeal Tribunal, the same organization Yarde is set to join. It's "an independent, quasi-judicial agency" that "adjudicates applications and resolves disputes concerning compensation claims and licensing activities regulated by the provincial government." One of its jobs is to decide car insurance disputes.
Roberts' position is salaried while Yarde will be paid $473-per-diem for his work as a part-time tribunal member. This means the amount he'll make from the job will depend on the number of hearings, case conferences and adjudications he attends, a Tribunals Ontario spokesperson said.
The $473-per-diem rate was set by a cabinet order from 2018, when Kathleen Wynne was premier. The government of the day can adjust these pay rates as it sees fit.
The former MPPs join a growing list of people who have donated to the party, been involved with it, or otherwise been friendly to Ford's PCs before receiving a cabinet-approved appointment.
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Yarde's appointment is set to be finalized early in the new year.
QP Briefing learned that cabinet had signed off on Yarde's tribunal gig from the government's latest intended appointments list, which was published after being tabled.
Yarde studied and worked in journalism before running for a seat at Queen's Park. The government's intended appointments filing highlights that Yarde was a broadcaster for The Weather Network and was also involved with Covenant House, which seeks to help at-risk youth, including those who are homeless or have been victims of trafficking.
In the 2018 provincial election, Yarde was elected as Brampton North's MPP, defeating second-place PC candidate Ripudaman Dhillon by fewer than 500 votes. Liberal incumbent Harinder Malhi, whom former premier Kathleen Wynne made minister of the status of women a few months before the election, placed third with about 6,000 votes less than Yarde and Dhillon.
Yarde worked for the private security firm Nationwide Security while he was an MPP, his disclosure statements show.
In early April 2022, about a month before this spring's election campaign started, Yarde was defeated at his nomination meeting. Sandeep Singh was instead chosen by local New Democrats to be the NDP's candidate in Brampton North.
Yarde alleged to the Toronto Star that he was only notified that his renomination was being contested after the deadline for new NDP members to sign up and be eligible to vote in the contest.
He quit the NDP caucus about two weeks before the election was called and sat as an Independent for his final days in the legislature.
Yarde did not seek re-election. While he didn't officially endorse any candidates or a party during the election, he did informally support the Conservatives in Brampton, two PC party sources confirmed, and photos from the election campaign show.
In one instance, Yarde helped PC candidates Graham McGregor and Charmaine Williams by introducing them to members of the Family Life Worship Centre, a predominantly Black church. Yarde was the first-ever Black MPP elected in Brampton. Williams became the second on June 2. McGregor was also elected, succeeding Yarde as Brampton North's MPP.
The PCs swept the Peel Region's 11 seats, including Brampton's five. The New Democrats held three Brampton ridings before its messy split with Yarde.
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