Top Liberals face Elections Act charges in Sudbury case
Sudbury byelection in 2015 led to accusations against Gerry Lougheed and Patricia Sorbara

TheStar.com
Oct. 31, 2016
Rob Ferguson and Robert Benzie

The head of Premier Kathleen Wynne’s re-election campaign and a Liberal fundraiser are facing Elections Act charges for alleged bribery in the 2015 Sudbury byelection.

Patricia Sorbara, until recently Wynne’s deputy chief of staff, and Sudbury funeral director Gerry Lougheed will be ‎charged by Ontario Provincial Police, the Star has learned.

Police swore the information before a justice of the peace on Monday and will formally announce the charges Tuesday.

The dramatic move, which comes with the Nov. 17 byelection campaigns underway in Niagara West-Glanbrook and Ottawa-Vanier, follows almost two years of investigation.

Criminal charges of bribery were stayed against Lougheed in Sudbury last April while detectives continued their probe into the lesser offences under the Elections Act.

Sorbara, who moved from Wynne’s office to become CEO and director of the 2018 Liberal campaign on Oct. 3, was never criminally charged.

Under provincial law, “no person shall, directly or indirectly, give, procure or promise or agree to procure an office or employment to induce a person to become a candidate, refrain from becoming a candidate or withdraw his or her candidacy.”

Police were tight-lipped Monday, with OPP Det.-Supt. Dave Truax saying only that “the investigation is ongoing.”

The OPP’s move appears to have blindsided the government and neither Sorbara nor Lougheed were immediately available for comment Monday night.

Earlier on Monday, Wynne said she didn’t know of any developments in the case.

“I’m not aware of anything new — I don’t know whether there’s something new,” Wynne said at a news conference with Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault, who won the hard-fought 2015 contest in Sudbury.

The Elections Act charges stem from the campaign in which paraplegic mortgage broker Andrew Olivier claimed both Sorbara and Lougheed offered him jobs to drop out of the nomination race, clearing the way for Wynne’s preferred candidate.

That was Thibeault, then a New Democrat MP who left federal politics and defected to the provincial Liberals. He has been in Wynne’s cabinet since last June.

Olivier had been the Liberal candidate in the 2014 province-wide election, replacing retired cabinet minister Rick Bartolucci. But he placed second in that vote to New Democrat Joe Cimino, who quit five months later over family issues, giving the Liberals a chance to win the riding back.

The mortgage broker had hoped to be the Liberal flag-bearer again; however, Wynne preferred Thibeault, who had been wooed by Lougheed.

Last April, the OPP and prosecutors stayed one count of unlawfully influencing or negotiating appointments and another of counselling an offence not committed against Lougheed.

Under a stay, charges are set aside and the Crown has one year to reinstate them. The two charges, which are rarely used by prosecutors, carry a prison sentence of up to seven years.

At that time, court in Sudbury heard that police had finished their investigation into whether Lougheed and Sorbara, then serving as Wynne’s deputy chief of staff, violated the Elections Act.

Prosecutors had the information from police and were said to be deciding whether to lay charges.

Any Elections Act charges are in a lower, non-criminal category of violations known as provincial offences, where penalties range from fines of up to $25,000 and maximum jail sentences of two years less a day.

Although Sorbara was not charged criminally with Lougheed, police had been investigating her possible election violations after Olivier made public his tapes of conversations.

Olivier — who tapes conversations because he cannot take notes — alleged they offered him jobs in return for abandoning his nomination bid.

In one tape, Lougheed said: “The premier wants to talk. They would like to present you options in terms of appointments, jobs, whatever, that you and her and Pat Sorbara could talk about.”

In another, Sorbara told Olivier “we should have the broader discussion about what is it that you’d be most interested in doing ... whether it’s a full-time or part-time job in a (constituency) office, whether it is appointments, supports or commissions ...”

Key players

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.

Timeline

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, 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 with Olivier, running as an independent, finishing 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.

April 27, 2016 — Those criminal charges against Lougheed are stayed, but the OPP says it is continuing a probe of alleged Ontario Elections Act violations.

Nov. 1, 2016 — OPP will announce charges under the provincial act against Lougheed and Sorbara.