Sudbury Liberal fundraiser to be charged under Elections Act: report

Former Wynne staffer Patricia Sorbara also to be charged

Local Liberal fundraiser and funeral director Gerry Lougheed Jr. will be charged by the Ontario Provincial Police today with bribery under the Elections Act in the 2015 Sudbury byelection scandal, the Toronto Star is reporting. File photo.

Local Liberal fundraiser and funeral director Gerry Lougheed Jr. will be charged by the Ontario Provincial Police today for an offence under the Elections Act in the 2015 Sudbury byelection scandal, the Toronto Star is reporting.

Patricia Sorbara, Premier Kathleen Wynne's former deputy chief of staff, will also be charged. Criminal charges of bribery were stayed against Lougheed this past April.

The police investigation began in January 2015, when former Liberal candidate Andrew Olivier released recordings of a conversation with Lougheed in which Olivier's future as a candidate was discussed.

In the conversation, which took place in December 2014, Lougheed tells Olivier that Premier Kathleen Wynne was supporting Glenn Thibeault as the party's candidate in the February 2015 byelection.

At issue in the case is whether Olivier was improperly offered a job or an appointment in return for not running for the nomination and supporting Thibeault instead.

- Sudbury.com