NDP, Liberals spar over Elections Ontario investigation

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is “not telling the truth” when she says there's a non-partisan process in place to deal with the results of an Elections Ontario investigation, says NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.

But the Liberals say Horwath knows better and is just throwing out accusations to boost their chances of winning the Feb. 5 byelection.

In a recent interview with NorthernLife.ca, Horwath repeated calls for an independent prosecutor to deal with the results of an investigation into an incident in Sudbury in December.

The Sudbury byelection was called after former NDP MPP Joe Cimino resigned in November. In December, Liberal fundraiser Gerry Lougheed Jr., campaign director Pat Sorbara and Wynne herself spoke with former Liberal candidate Andrew Olivier to tell him Glenn Thibeault was going to be the candidate.

He says he was offered a job in exchange for withdrawing from the race and backing Thibeault, and later released recordings of his conversations with Lougheed and Sorbara to back his claims. Elections Ontario is investigating, but the NDP wants an independent prosecutor to handle the matter if Elections Ontario concludes the province's Elections Act was violated.

While Wynne insists a non-partisan process is already in place, Horwath says that's not true.

“The system that's in place now has the Elections Ontario report go to the Minister of the Attorney General,” she said. “The minister can then decide to do anything she wants with that report. She can hold that report under wraps and not make it public.

“There is not a non-partisan process in place, and for the premier to say that, is actually not telling the truth. She's not telling the truth.”

In response to an inquiry, a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Attorney General described the process of how such a complaint would be handled.

“Where the Chief Electoral Officer concludes there has been an apparent contravention of the Election Act or Election Finances Act, the complaint is referred directly to the Deputy Attorney General,” ministry spokesperson Brendan Crawley said in an email. “Upon receiving a report from the Chief Electoral Officer, the Deputy Attorney General will, without investigation, immediately refer the matter to the Assistant Deputy Attorney General-Criminal Law Division.”

At that point, the assistant deputy attorney would review the complaint “and may forward the information to the police, who are responsible for conducting investigations.”

If police decide to lay charges, they would inform the Chief Electoral Officer, who must consent to the prosecution, Crawley said in his email.

“The police would then swear the information, which would be endorsed by the Chief Electoral Officer to indicate his consent to the prosecution. In such circumstances, once the information is filed with the court, it would become a matter of public record.”

Zita Astravas, Wynne's press secretary, said the Deputy Attorney General and the Assistant Deputy Attorney General are members of the civil service, not politicians.

“Non-partisan officials in the ministry are separate and distinct from both the minister herself and political staff in the minister’s office,” Astravas said in an email. “Andrea Horwath knows that no politicians and no political staff have any involvement in the process whatsoever.”

“We’re glad Elections Ontario is taking this seriously so there will be no doubt that the allegations are false ... These are more desperate games from the NDP in the middle of a byelection.”

But Horwath said the NDP wants the report to be made public -- regardless of what Elections Ontario concludes -- so the public can decide for themselves what they think. Otherwise, Horwath said the Liberals will “cleanse” the document before being made public.

“That happens all the time,” she said. “The minister can decide what, in that report, is for public consumption. That's what we're concerned about.

“That's why we prefer independent officers. That's why we'd prefer (it go to to someone like) the Ombudsman of Ontario, the Auditor General of Ontario, the Child Advocate – these are independent officers. Their reports don't get cleansed through the ministries – they're made available to Legislature. Not so with this process.”