A key player in the Sudbury bribery trial has left the Liberal campaign team following multiple resignations from senior team members.
Patricia Sorbara was the campaign director for the Ontario Liberal Party up until bribery charges were laid against her in Sudbury under the Election’s Act.
Sorbara and local Liberal fundraiser Gerry Lougheed were accused of offering would-be candidate Andrew Oliver a job or appointment of some kind if he stepped aside for Wynne’s preferred candidate in the 2015 byelection.
Sorbara stepped aside during the trial and was replaced by Chad Walsh, who was ultimately named interim director for the campaign.
When Sobara and Lougheed were acquitted on Oct. 24, she returned to her position but, despite her close personal friendship with Premier Kathleen Wynne, sources tell CTV News Toronto that it did not play well within her team members.
Earlier this month, multiple team members resigned from the campaign, including senior member Alexis Levine, the Liberal’s nomination commissioner.
It’s believed the resignations poured in as a result of Sorbara’s return.
But, according to a high-level source, Sorbara is now the one leaving.
The source told CTV News Toronto that Levine, who had previously resigned, has decided to return. Interim director Chad Walsh is also reportedly staying on the team, as well.
In a statement provided to CTV News Toronto, Wynne addressed the changes and confirmed Sorbara will not be rejoining the campaign team.
“As you know, while Pat Sorbara was gone from the Ontario Liberal Party to deal with the Elections Ontario charges in Sudbury, we continued our hard work getting ready for the 2018 campaign. Recently there has a been a great deal of discussion about the structure of the campaign team moving forward,” Wynne wrote.
Pat Sorbara will not be joining the campaign team. However, I will continue to count upon her personal friendship. The team that stepped up while Pat was forced to deal with completely unfounded charges in Sudbury came together and gelled in the last several months.
Wynne went on to say that the team will take the party “into the coming election” and the “full organization structure” of the team will be announced sometime “in the near future.”
“We have a lot of hard work to do as we move forward on our plan to create more fairness and opportunity for everyone in Ontario, and I have full confidence in the talent and experience of our campaign team,” she wrote.
The source went on to tell CTV News Toronto that “there were tears” when Wynne and Sorbara discussed her departure with the team.
Sorbara said she had nothing to add to the statement released by the Premier.
With files from the Canadian Press
