TORONTO -- Elections Ontario has come to the "unprecedented" conclusion that the actions of two Liberals, including the premier's deputy chief of staff, constitute an "apparent contravention" of a bribery section of the Election Act.
A would-be Liberal candidate in last month's Sudbury byelection has accused Premier Kathleen Wynne's deputy chief of staff, Pat Sorbara, and local Liberal organizer Gerry Lougheed of offering him a job or appointment to step aside for another candidate.
Greg Essensa, the chief electoral officer of Ontario, said in a statement Thursday that since Elections Ontario has no mandate to conduct prosecutions he has referred the matter to the Ministry of the Attorney General.
Essensa concluded that Sorbara and Lougheed's actions "constitute an apparent contravention" of a section of the Election Act concerning "bribery in connection with inducing a person to become, refrain from becoming, or withdrawing from being a candidate."
Essensa called the circumstances "unprecedented."
"No chief electoral officer of Ontario has ever conducted a regulatory investigation into allegations of bribery or ever reported an apparent contravention of the Election Act or the Election Finances Act to the Ministry of the Attorney General," he said in his statement.
To find an "apparent contravention" as per the Election Act, Essensa said he must be satisfied that there is a "prima facie" contravention based on the evidence, and he is neither deciding to prosecute a matter nor determining anyone's guilt or innocence.
The Ontario Provincial Police are also investigating whether the alleged actions violated the Criminal Code.
The Liberals have denied wrongdoing, saying they made no specific offer but were trying to keep Andrew Olivier -- who had been their candidate in the June general election -- involved in the party after deciding to appoint a new candidate.
Wynne has often repeated that no "specific" offer was made to Olivier.
Essensa said in a report he filed with the legislature "it is unnecessary to show that a particular job was offered."
Ontario's opposition parties are calling for Sorbara to step aside and for the government to remove Lougheed as head of Sudbury's police services board. They are also calling for the appointment of an independent prosecutor.
Lougheed has told local media in Sudbury that he does not have the authority to offer jobs and "at no time" did he promise Olivier a job or appointment if he stepped aside.
Essensa said to find an apparent contravention of the act, the person making the "potential offer" does not need to be capable of actually delivering it.
