According to a report from the Toronto Star, Premier Kathleen Wynne’s top political adviser Patricia Sorbara has stepped aside as head of the Ontario Liberals’ re-election campaign after being charged for alleged bribery during a 2015 byelection.
Sorbara, CEO and director of the 2018 Liberal campaign, and Gerry Lougheed face Elections Act charges related to the Sudbury contest.
“In 2015, I said that if any charges were laid as a result of the investigation, then Patricia Sorbara would, of course, step aside and this will happen if charges are laid,” Wynne told reporters Tuesday.
Her comments came after it was reported that both Sorbara and Lougheed would be charged Tuesday by the OPP and before those charges were official.
Sorbara, 60, was charged with two counts of bribery, while Lougheed, 62, was charged with one count of bribery.
More serious criminal charges of bribery were stayed against Lougheed last April, while officers continued their probe into the lesser Elections Act offences.
Sorbara, who was Wynne’s deputy chief of staff until moving to the Liberal campaign last month, was never criminally charged.
