Alykhan Velshi at Toronto's Ryerson University on Feb. 28, 2018.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
Ontario Power Generation paid more than $131,000 in severance to an executive who was fired because of an intervention on his first day by Premier Doug Ford’s then-chief of staff, according to a document revealed after a four-year freedom-of-information battle.
The Crown corporation made the termination payment after Dean French, who was the Premier’s top aide at the time, expressed displeasure about OPG’s hiring of Alykhan Velshi as vice-president of stakeholder relations in September, 2018.
The Globe and Mail filed a freedom-of-information request for the severance allowance paid to Mr. Velshi, who was previously chief of staff to former Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown. OPG refused to disclose the amount, and The Globe appealed to Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner.
In a recent decision, IPC adjudicator Jessica Kowalski ordered OPG to disclose Mr. Velshi’s severance amount.
Ms. Kowalski rejected arguments from OPG’s lawyers that Mr. Velshi’s severance did not have to be disclosed because of a provision in the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act excluding employment matters. She also did not accept the utility’s position that the termination payment should be exempt from disclosure because it could prejudice OPG’s economic interests.
In response to the IPC order, OPG provided a document revealing Mr. Velshi’s severance was $131,676.01.
OPG spokesman Neal Kelly did not respond to questions from The Globe about the adjudicator’s decision or whether the utility had paid Mr. Velshi for other claims relating to his firing, such as legal fees or general damages. The company also did not answer a question about why it had fired Mr. Velshi.
Instead, Mr. Kelly provided a one-line statement, saying: “We don’t discuss individual staffing matters.”
Mr. Velshi’s salary at OPG was not made public, but a lawyer for the utility said the pay range for his role was $150,000 to $250,000 a year. Mr. Velshi’s predecessor was paid $223,140 in 2017, according to provincial records.
Mr. Velshi declined comment for this article. Mr. Velshi, who also worked in former prime minister Stephen Harper’s office, was vice-president of corporate and public affairs for the Americas at Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei until January, according to his LinkedIn profile.
OPG fired Mr. Velshi a few days after Mr. French personally contacted Bernard Lord, who was chairman of its board at the time, to express displeasure about Mr. Velshi’s hiring on his first day in September, 2018. However, Mr. Velshi stayed on until his termination took effect at the end of November of that year.
It is not known what motivated Mr. French to ask OPG to fire Mr. Velshi. Mr. French did not respond to questions sent by e-mail last week.
After a Globe report about Mr. Velshi’s firing in November, 2018, Mr. Ford maintained that OPG was responsible for its own hiring and said he didn’t believe that Mr. French had intervened. But the Premier also said he didn’t ask his top aide about the matter.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Ford did not return e-mails seeking comment last week.
Mr. French intervened in OPG’s staffing a few months after Mr. Velshi resigned as chief of staff to Mr. Brown in January, 2018, hours before the PC leader was forced to step down because of a CTV report alleging he had engaged in sexual misconduct. Mr. Brown denied the allegations and launched a lawsuit, which was settled last year after CTV said key details in its report were factually inaccurate.
After Mr. Brown stepped down, Mr. Velshi became chief of staff to interim PC leader Vic Fedeli until Mr. Ford was elected party leader.
Jill Mahoney