Liberals name Michael Bryant to head body that regulates accountants

TORONTO - Former attorney general Michael Bryant has landed a new job with the Ontario government, chairing a body that regulates the province's public accounting profession.

Bryant, a former rising star in the government of former premier Dalton McGuinty, quit provincial politics in 2009 and was CEO of Invest Toronto when he was involved in a fatal collision with a bicycle courier.

He was charged with criminal negligence causing death and dangerous driving in the death of bike courier Darcy Allan Sheppard, but all charges were later withdrawn.

After the incident, and his retirement from politics, Bryant wrote a book about the accident in which he also acknowledged he was a recovering alcoholic.

Bryant will replace John Crow, who is finishing his second and final term as chair of the Public Accounts Council.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version incorrectly stated that Bryant confessed in a book to being drunk during much of his time as a cabinet minister. In the book, Bryant said he was neither intoxicated on job nor drank during the day.