Premier Kathleen Wynne will testify in the Sudbury by-election trial, set to start this fall.
Wynne will testify as a Crown witness at an upcoming Election Act bribery trial for two Liberals, putting the Ontario premier directly in the spotlight of an already politically charged case.
Wynne could invoke parliamentary privilege to avoid testifying, but will not, she said Tuesday.
“I have been very clear that I was going to work with the process and I’ve done that and I will continue to do that,” said Wynne.
“I will testify. I will go along with the process and do what I can to clarify, as I have in the legislature many, many times."
The trial for Pat Sorbara, the premier's former deputy chief of staff, and Sudbury-based Liberal fundraiser Gerry Lougheed Jr., is set to begin on September 7.
Sorbara, the premier's former deputy chief of staff, faces two bribery charges under the Election Act.
Lougheed faces one charge.
Their trial is set to start Sept. 7 and last several weeks. That could mean a verdict is delivered just months before the June 2018 election.
The pair is accused of offering a would-be candidate, Andrew Olivier, a job or appointment to get him to step aside in a 2015 byelection in Sudbury, Ont., for Wynne's preferred candidate, Glenn Thibeault.
At the time, Thibeault was a New Democrat MP. He is now the energy minister.
Though Wynne is being called as a witness by the Crown, she has said that she had already decided Olivier would not be the byelection candidate and as a result there was no need to offer him anything in exchange for not running.
Sorbara and Lougheed both deny the charges.
Lougheed had been charged criminally, with one count of counselling an offence not committed and one count of unlawfully influencing or negotiating appointments, but those charges were stayed last year.
The investigation was sparked by recordings made by Olivier, who was the Liberal candidate in Sudbury during the 2014 general election. As a quadriplegic man who often records his conversations in lieu of taking notes, Olivier recorded chats he had with Sorbara and Lougheed. Technical difficulties prevented him from recording a call he had with Wynne herself.
The bribery section of the Election Act says no person shall directly or indirectly "give, procure or promise or agree to procure an office or employment to induce a person to become a candidate, refrain from becoming a candidate or withdraw his or her candidacy."
A conviction under the bribery section of the Election Act carries a penalty of up to $5,000. If a judge finds it was broken "knowingly," the penalty is a fine of up to $25,000 and/or up to two years less a day in jail.
When the charges were laid in November, Sorbara had recently taken a leave of absence as the premier's deputy chief of staff to become the Ontario Liberal Party CEO and 2018 campaign director.
She stepped down after being charged.
When asked Tuesday if she would welcome Sorbara back to work in her office if she was acquitted, Wynne said she looked forward to the opportunity to work with Sorbara again.
with files from the Canadian Press
