Premier Wynne says ‘mutually convenient date’ set for interview with OPP

Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne. Photo by Uiaeli / Wikimedia Commons.

BARRIE, Ontario — Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne says a date has been set for her to meet with police investigating allegations two Liberals broke the law in the lead-up to a recent byelection.

The Ontario Provincial Police are probing allegations the Liberals offered would-be Sudbury byelection candidate Andrew Olivier a job or appointment to step aside for their preferred candidate.

It has been about two months since audio recordings of the conversations in question were made public, prompting the police to reopen an investigation they had previously deemed closed.

Until today, Wynne had said a “scheduling issue” was the reason she hadn’t yet been interviewed by the OPP, but she says now the police and her legal counsel have found a “mutually convenient date.”

She would not divulge the exact date and time of her interview, which she says is normal protocol in such an investigation, but she says it will take place before the end of April.

Conversations with Wynne’s deputy chief of staff, Pat Sorbara, and local Liberal organizer Gerry Lougheed, who is also chair of Sudbury’s police services board, are at the centre of the allegations.