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MPP Nicholls Asks Premier to Resign After Top Liberal Fundraiser Charged
September 28, 2015
Queen’s Park Ontario Provincial Police have laid two criminal charges against a Liberal fundraiser for his involvement in the Sudbury by-election scandal, and MPP Rick Nicholls said today it has “disgraced the Office of the Premier of Ontario” and is calling for Premier Wynne’s resignation.
Gerry Lougheed is being charged with one count of Counselling an Offence Not Committed and one count of Unlawfully Influencing or Negotiating Appointments. The investigation began after a former Liberal candidate said he was offered a job or appointment to step aside for Premier Wynne’s hand-picked candidate, MPP Glenn Thibeault.
“A top Liberal fundraiser has been criminally charged and the Premier’s deputy chief of staff Pat Sorbara is still under investigation. They both stated that he would receive a job, and both invoked the Premier’s name in the tapes. This scandal goes right up to her office, and it is a disgrace for Ontario,” Nicholls said.
“The Opposition is asking very serious questions of this government and we are not receiving answers. We want to know if the Premier herself ordered Gerry Lougheed to break the law. Liberals can dance around the issue in Question Period, but they won’t be able to in court,” Nicholls stated.
Nicholls has been closely following the investigation since it first began.
“As the critic for Community Safety and Correctional Services, I asked the government to remove Mr. Lougheed from the Sudbury Police Services Board to uphold its integrity. Unfortunately they did not,” Nicholls said.
A separate investigation in possible provincial offences that includes both Sorbara and Lougheed is still open. That means Sorbara could still face charges for violating the provincial Elections Act and such provincial charges can carry up to two years less a day in jail time.
Nicholls concluded, “I sincerely thank the Ontario Provincial Police and their numerous officers that are working on multiple investigations into the Ontario Liberal Government. I know Ontarians are waiting for updates on 3 pending OPP investigations into this government and I will continue to press for answers in the Legislature.”
