Provincial Liberal Party CEO will step aside if charged under Elections Act, Wynne says

Premier Kathleen Wynne says the Ontario Liberal Party's CEO will step aside if she is charged under the Elections Act.

Wynne was responding to a report in the Toronto Star that the Ontario Provincial Police will lay a bribery charge under that act against Patricia Sorbara.

Sorbara recently took a leave of absence as the premier's deputy chief of staff to become party CEO and 2018 campaign director.

• Lougheed to be charged under Elections Act

Radio-Canada has confirmed that Gerry Lougheed, a Liberal operative in Sudbury, Ont., will also be charged.

"In 2015, I said that if any charges were laid as a result of the investigation, then Patricia Sorbara of course would step aside, and this will happen if charges are laid," Wynne told reporters at Queen's Park in Toronto on Tuesday.

"It is now at a point where we understand that charges will be laid."

Wynne said Sorbara will step aside from her current position within the Liberal Party. 

​Sorbara and Lougheed had been under investigation over allegations they offered a would-be candidate a job or appointment to get him to step aside in the 2015 byelection in Sudbury.

The premier said Tuesday she has co-operated with the OPP investigation. She declined to comment on whether Sorbara was acting on instructions from the premier's office.

The OPP had been investigating Sorbara and Lougheed criminally and under the Election Act. Sorbara was cleared criminally, but Lougheed was charged with one count of counselling an offence not committed and one count of unlawfully influencing or negotiating appointments — charges that were stayed earlier this year.

Following the staying of Lougheed's criminal charges in April, the police turned their focus to the Election Act, specifically a bribery section that says 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."

A conviction under the bribery section of the Election Act carries a penalty of up to $5,000. If a judge finds it was broken "knowingly," the penalty is a fine of up to $25,000 and/or up to two years less a day in jail.

The investigation was sparked by recordings made by Andrew Olivier, who was the Liberal candidate in Sudbury during the 2014 general election. As a quadriplegic man who often records his conversations in lieu of taking notes, Olivier recorded chats he had with Sorbara and Lougheed. Technical difficulties prevented him from recording a call he had with Wynne herself.

The Liberals have denied wrongdoing, saying they made no specific offer but were trying to keep Olivier involved in the party after deciding to appoint Glenn Thibeault as their candidate as he left his role as the New Democrat MP for the riding.