The Liberal government in Ontario since 2003 has seen Ontarians bear more than our fair share of scandals, boondoggles and policy decisions like the Green Energy Act that seem to have entitled them with a never before seen Carte Blanche approach to governance and the notion that there is NO RULE OF LAW for Liberals in this once great province.
You would think that after the Mississauga and Oakville Gas Plant scandal in which the premier herself stood in the legislature and harked “there was a clear breach of trust between the government and the People of Ontario” that they would be on their best behavior and avoid more black marks on their report card. But it seems their “seat saver” program for the 1.2 billion wasted in the re-siting of two plants to save two seats, has now turned to a SEAT STEALER program in the upcoming by-election in Sudbury slated for mid-February.
If you did not hear about this latest Liberal stinker, it is because it was not covered at all in most of the main stream media. The original news breaker was the Sudbury Star and, as usual, Sun News Network’s Brian Lilley caught a whiff and ran with it. The BYLINE, with Brian Lilley on the January 16 edition frames the whole mess up pretty well and you can see it online for those who missed it.
Andrew Oliver won the nomination for Liberal candidate in Sudbury in May 2014 but lost out to NDP candidate Joe Cimino in the June Provincial election. When Cimino resigned his seat less than six months after winning, Oliver announced he would again seek the Liberal nomination. He would have been a strong contender for the seat, having lost to Cimino by less than 1000 votes. It seems that the Liberals had other plans and are alleged to have asked Oliver to step aside in favour of Sudbury NDP MP Glenn Thibeault.
Two audio tapes, released by Oliver, seem to support the idea that he was asked to step down. The recordings at the transcript of the conversations can be found at http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/andrew-olivier-releases-documents-over-alleged-appointment-offer-1.2901910.
The OPP concluded “their investigation” in less than one month (in comparison, the Ornge air ambulance investigation went on for almost three years) and the famous “anti-Rackets Squad” which seems to be where all these files end up at the OPP, has stated there is nothing to see here folks, move along, our work is completed.
If it were not for local PC MPP Steve Clark pestering the Elections Ontario folks for a full investigation, the whole sordid matter could have been just another little blip on the radar added to the litany of Liberal UN-investigated crimes that have allowed them to usurp power in this province since the seat saver program that made the difference in the 2011 election. The OPP has stated that they will review the tapes and consider re-opening the investigation.
Without going into all the details of the two taped audio conversations, it appears the Liberal FIX is AGAIN IN to subvert YOUR DEMOCRACY in Sudbury to have a favored FEDERAL NDP candidate switch party horses to the Liberals and be welcomed into the “liberal Family” to run in the upcoming provincial by-election. Andrew Oliver has decided to run as an independent.
You really have to listen to the tapes, folks. It takes about 20 minutes and if they do not contravene Section 96.1 of the Ontario Election Act, I don’t know what does. The Act states:
Bribery
96.1 ;
(e) 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. 1998, c. 9, s. 44.
Listen to the audio tapes. They are more damming than you can imagine and YOU BE THE JUDGE, because it is likely you will be the ONLY judge to ever hear them.
Premier Wynne contends that “no specific offer was made to Andrew”. We will see how this unfolds with Elections Ontario. You can file your own complaint at www.elections.on.ca. I did.