Sudbury riding bribery charges dominate Queens Park question period
Provincial Minister of Energy says police have it wrong
The governing Liberal Party of Ontario fielded calls by the opposition at Queens Park Thursday to have the province's energy minister, and Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault step aside in the wake of bribery charges against two former party associates.
Pat Sorbara, Premier Kathleen Wynne's former deputy chief of staff, was charged Tuesday with two bribery counts under the provincial Election Act, while Liberal operative Gerry Lougheed faces one count. Court documents show that one of Sorbara's charges relates to Thibeault.
Ontario Provincial Police allege that Thibeault was offered an inducement to run for the provincial Liberals, knowingly violating the Election Act.
Thibeault is now Ontario's Minister of Energy.
"When the integrity of a minister or their office are called into question, the minister has a responsibility to step aside until the investigation is complete," Steve Clark, the deputy leader of the Progressive Conservatives, said during the morning session.
NDP deputy leader Jagmeet Singh also called for Thibeault's removal from cabinet on Thursday.
Premier Kathleen Wynne rejected the notion, saying that Thibeault himself has not been charged.
"The minister of energy is under no investigation," she responded. "This matter is before the court and the member opposite knows full well that we need to let that court process unfold."
Investigators have it wrong: Thibeault
For his part, Thibeault says investigators have it wrong, when alleging that he was bribed to leave the federal NDP and run for the provincial Liberals in a by-election.
"I don't know what the allegation relates to. I'm confused by it," he told reporters Wednesday outside the legislature.
"This was a choice that I made to do this all along," he added, saying that he was disenchanted with the federal NDP, decided on his own to join the Ontario Liberals and was never promised a cabinet job.
One count each against Sorbara and Lougheed stem from allegations that they bribed former Sudbury candidate Andrew Olivier, a previous Sudbury Liberal candidate, who intended to run for them in a by-election in February, 2015, to step aside for Thibeault.
The second charge against Sorbara alleges she bribed Thibeault to defect from the federal NDP.
Police allege that at some point between Nov. 19, 2014 and the day after the by-election, Sorbara promised to get Thibeault "an office or employment," to induce him to become a candidate.
Police are also charging that she did so "knowingly," which would boost the maximum penalties from a $5,000 fine to a fine of up to $25,000 and/or up to two years less a day in jail.
"I had many conversations with Pat during that time, those conversations were are you are still considering doing this? What do you need to know from us about running for our party?'" Thibeault said.
"We talked a lot about policy, we talked a lot about the by-election, if that's going to happen, when it was going to happen and building a team, but in terms of offers being made, this was a choice that I made to do this all along."
Sorbara and Lougheed are to appear in court in Sudbury on November 21.
With files from The Canadian Press