Report: Police blaming Crown for stalling byelection case

News reports Thursday on Sudbury's lingering byelection scandal indicated the OPP's Anti-Rackets Branch investigation into bribery allegations was stalled because police have been unable to convince the Crown to proceed with the case.

It has been months since the probe began, and with no decision yet, a Toronto Star story Thursday cited sources who said the delay is because of a reluctance on the part of the Crown to lay charges. But a story in the Globe and Mail said the Public Prosecution Service of Canada – a federal body – has taken over the case to avoid the perception of bias if a decision was made by lawyers working for the province.

With a few exceptions, there's no legal requirement for police to get the consent of Crown lawyers before laying criminal charges, says a Western University law professor.

“The police are the ones that lay the charges,” said Dr. Christopher Sherrin, associate professor at Western Law whose specializes in criminal law and procedure, in an interview Thursday. “Police can lay charges without the consent of the Crown.”

Sherrin said that while police don't usually need consent of the Crown, it's rare for a case to proceed unless they're on board since they are the ones that would have to prosecute the case.

“In the last 100 years, I'm sure it's happened,” he said. “While police can lay charges without the consent of the Crown, the Crown could withdraw them almost immediately.”

NDP deputy house leader Jagmeet Singh raised the issue in the Ontario Legislature on Thursday. In an interview with NorthernLife.ca, he said he wanted the province to provide whatever arms-length assistance they can to bring the case to a conclusion.

For example, Singh said if the delays are related to a lack of resources or difficulty in finding court time, the province could help without influencing the outcome of the case.

It's important for public confidence, he added, since the Liberals have been investigated for other scandals, including the gas plant and Ornge controversies.

“These are all very serious cases,” Singh said. “The public wants to find out the truth.”

He said long delays in making a decision on the case could be related to the extreme caution that police and Crown are taking because it's such a highly politicized case.

“That's the only reason I can think of,” he said, adding it would be a “travesty” if a prosecution was derailed because of a procedural or other mistake.

“I don't know what other reason it could be.”

Reached by phone Thursday, Lougheed said like everyone else, he's in the dark about the status of the case.

“I don't really have a comment on the process because I've never been through this before,” Lougheed said, when asked whether he's getting anxious for a decision to be made one way or another. “The process is the process, I guess.”

The investigation has been going on since February, related to allegations by former Liberal candidate Andrew Olivier that Liberal Party campaign director Patrician Sorbara and local fundraiser Gerry Lougheed Jr. offered him a job or political appointment if he would step aside as a candidate. Both have denied any wrongdoing.

Premier Kathleen Wynne appointed now MPP Glenn Thibeault as the candidate, who won the Feb. 5 vote despite the scandal. Wynne has maintained that Olivier knew Thibeault was going to be the candidate, and she was only trying to keep Olivier involved with the party.

In January, Olivier released recordings of his conversations with Sorbara and Lougheed, which prompted the probe. The OPP have said it is investigating whether Ontario's Elections Act was broken in the case.