Thibeault to testify at byelection bribery trial

Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault will be a witness for the prosecution in the Sudbury byelection bribery trial that begins in September.

Like Premier Kathleen Wynne, Thibeault will give up his parliamentary immunity and take the stand in the trial of two top Liberals.

“If called, Minister Thibeault will waive parliamentary privilege and appear as a witness,” his office said in a statement Wednesday.

Patricia Sorbara, Wynne’s former deputy chief of staff and a key architect of the Liberals’ 2014 electoral victory, and Gerry Lougheed, a prominent Sudbury businessman and party stalwart, are accused of Elections Act violations from the February 2015 byelection won by Thibeault.

The Crown alleges Sorbara and Lougheed offered defeated former Liberal candidate Andrew Olivier a political appointment or a job in exchange for dropping out of the party’s nomination race.

That was to clear the decks for Wynne to appoint Thibeault, then the local NDP MP, as the Liberal standard-bearer. Olivier ended up running as an independent, finishing third.

“Minister Thibeault has always emphasized that he made the move from federal to provincial politics because it was an opportunity to better represent his home riding of Sudbury and to make a real difference in his community,” his office said.

Both Sorbara and Lougheed have denied any wrongdoing.

Elections Act charges are noncriminal violations known as provincial offences with penalties that include fines of up to $25,000 and maximum jail sentences of two years less a day.

The case begins Sept. 7 in Sudbury and is slated to last into October. It is not yet known what days Wynne and Thibeault will testify.