What a story, one to follow right to near term by elections and the next provincial.
Patricia Sorbara, CEO and director of the 2018 Liberal campaign, and Grit activist Gerry Lougheed face Elections Act charges for alleged bribery during the Sudbury contest.
https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2016/11/01/wynne-adviser-to-step-down-after-opp-charges-rela...
Key players in the drama:
Gerry Lougheed: Wealthy Sudbury funeral home director, one-time Liberal-appointed chair of the local police services board, and a political kingmaker in the nickel city.
Patricia Sorbara: Head of Premier Kathleen Wynne’s re-election campaign and her former deputy chief of staff, she is one of the premier’s most trusted advisers and was instrumental in the Liberals’ 2014 majority victory.
Andrew Olivier: Defeated by New Democrat Joe Cimino in the June 2014 election, the mortgage broker and quadriplegic activist hoped to again be the Liberal candidate in the February 2015 byelection, but he was spurned and ended up running as an independent, finishing third.
Premier Kathleen Wynne: Despite winning a majority in the election, the fiercely competitive Liberal leader was unhappy to have lost Sudbury, which was one of only two held seats her party failed to keep. When Cimino quit, she pounced, wooing Glenn Thibeault and passing over Olivier.
Glenn Thibeault: Energy minister and the former federal NDP MP for Sudbury, who defected to the Liberals after being courted by Wynne and Lougheed. Wynne appointed him to prevent a messy nomination fight with Olivier.
Chronology of events:
Nov. 20, 2014: NDP MPP Joe Cimino, who beat Liberal Andrew Olivier by 980 votes in Sudbury in the June 2014 provincial election, resigns suddenly.
Dec. 11: Liberal activist Gerry Lougheed visits Olivier to urge him not to run in the upcoming byelection, saying, “I come to you on behalf of the premier.” The next day, Patricia Sorbara, who was then Premier Kathleen Wynne’s deputy chief of staff, phones Olivier.
Dec. 15: Olivier says he has been “bullied” by the Liberals into stepping aside for a different candidate, prompting the Progressive Conservatives to contact Ontario Provincial Police and the NDP to alert Elections Ontario.
Dec. 16: The Star reveals Wynne has lured NDP MP Glenn Thibeault to be the Liberal candidate in the Sudbury byelection.
Jan. 15, 2015: Olivier takes to Facebook with recordings of his conversations with Sorbara and Lougheed, which leads the OPP to broaden their probe the next day.
Feb. 5: Liberal Thibeault wins the byelection. Olivier, running as an independent, finishes third behind the NDP’s Suzanne Shawbonquit.
Feb. 19: Elections Ontario chief Greg Essensa releases a 29-page report on the byelection concluding the Liberals were in “apparent contravention” of bribery laws over the job offers to Olivier.
Sept. 24: Police charge Lougheed with one count of counselling an offence not committed and one count of unlawfully influencing or negotiating appointments. Sorbara is cleared of any criminal wrongdoing.
Apr. 27, 2016: The criminal charges against Lougheed are stayed, but the OPP says it is continuing a probe of alleged Ontario Elections Act violations.
Nov. 1: OPP will announce charges under the provincial act against Lougheed and Sorbara.
