Liberal Fundraiser charged in yet another Provincial Liberal Scandal

[train]

An Ontario Liberal fundraiser faces criminal corruption charges in an alleged bribery scandal, accused of offering a former candidate a government job on behalf of Premier Kathleen Wynne in exchange for dropping out of a by-election race in Sudbury.

Complete story
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...-by-election-bribery-scandal/article26514410/

So I ask you, what is worse a) using private "party" funds to pay back taxpayers (Duffy) or b) using taxpayer funds to bribe someone not for election contraneving the Election Act ? No matter how many emails they erased this time no one believes that Wynne didn't approve this.

 

[Butler1000]

All it will take is this guy from Sudbury to cut a deal for no jail time in exchange for testimony.

If this happens Wynne may very well be toast.

 

[bver_hunter]

All it will take is this guy from Sudbury to cut a deal for no jail time in exchange for testimony.

If this happens Wynne may very well be toast.

They could have said the same about Duffy and Harper. But these things drag on before the final truth comes out.

 

[Butler1000]

They could have said the same about Duffy and Harper. But these things drag on before the final truth comes out.

The difference is if Wynne ordered this it could be jail time.

 

[Ref]

What bothers and amazes me is that it is so obvious this guy was acting on directions from Wynn or her buddy Sorbara. Common sense asks us that how would this guy have the authority to offer Olivier a plum position without some form of approval from senior liberal government personnel.

I wish that the RCMP would be responsible for investigating these provincial government scandals as using the OPP smacks of a conflict of interest.

And before the party supporters point out the shenanigans of the PC's, we the taxpayer need to have better protection against all levels of government corruption. It is high time that we, the taxpayer, had some control and protocols in place to protect our best interests. This isn't about the PC party, Liberals or NDP, it is about having elected officials act and behave with integrity, honesty and uphold the laws. They need to lead by example.

That being said, the Liberals are throwing this guy under the bus. Hopefully he has the balls and proof to expose them all.

 

[terom]

The CONs are just as crooked too. They're just better at not getting caught.

 

[Moviefan-2]

This is messy.

In political terms, I can understand Kathleen preferring the turncoat MP over the other guy. Except the other guy is in a wheelchair.

Imagine how Kathleen would react if any other party had been caught using shady (and possibly illegal) maneuvers to replace a potential candidate in a wheelchair. She'd be as outraged as she claims to be about the so-called "rape culture" on our campuses.

 

[Moviefan-2]

They could have said the same about Duffy and Harper. But these things drag on before the final truth comes out.

Two important differences:

1) Whether you believe he knew anything or not, Harper has publicly denounced what happened in the Duffy scandal and Nigel Wright left the PMO. By contrast, Pat Sorbara is still in the premier's office.

2) Wynne still has about three years left in her mandate -- plenty of time for more dirt to come out.

I don't think this scandal alone would be enough to sink Wynne. But there are some differences from the Duffy situation.

 

[bver_hunter]

Two important differences:

1) Whether you believe he knew anything or not, Harper has publicly denounced what happened in the Duffy scandal and Nigel Wright left the PMO. By contrast, Pat Sorbara is still in the premier's office.

2) Wynne still has about three years left in her mandate -- plenty of time for more dirt to come out.

I don't think this scandal alone would be enough to sink Wynne. But there are some differences from the Duffy situation.

We have not heard the whole story as yet with the Duffy scandal. However, it is strange that there were quite a few of Harper's confidantes who were informed of it but are all playing dumb. Also what occurred in this particular affair is quite common. It happens at Provincial as well as Federal levels. The ones being turfed aside decide to "take up" better positions. The only difference is that this is the first time that there was a whistle blower who still wanted to hold on to his position.

 

[Moviefan-2]

The only difference is that this is the first time that there was a whistle blower who still wanted to hold on to his position.

Actually, the real difference speaks to motives.

The Duffy scandal is essentially about a senator who was dining at the trough. Harper and his PMO handled it badly and have shown poor judgment (possibly including a nudge, nudge, wink, wink attitude to the way senator's expenses are reported) but people understand that the real sins were committed by Duffy and other senators (legal or not).

By contrast, the villain at the centre of the byelection scandal is Wynne.

Eager to make it look like the wheelchair-bound candidate had voluntarily dropped out, Wynne's loyalists engaged in some horse trading with the guy.

The byelection scandal isn't about a leader's office trying to deal with someone else's bad behaviour. This is about the leader -- Wynne -- and her bad behaviour.

 

[oldjones]

Not "…yet another", it's just the latest act in a scandal that erupted well before the Ontario vote; you just haven't been keeping up.
As for your request:

So I ask you, what is worse a) using private "party" funds to pay back taxpayers (Duffy) or b) using taxpayer funds to bribe someone not for election contraneving the Election Act ?

when you put the part b) into intelligable English I'll be happy to try to answer which is worse.

But as for part a) I note that the alleged bribe-payer appears to have gotten off scot-free, and has a cushy new job in London, while the guy he worked for (the federal equivalent of Kathleen) still claims he knew nothing of what his right hand man was doing. Since you're only just catching up, the alleged bribe-payer is a funeral director by trade and only a local party official in Sudbury, not a highly-paid, full-time Chief of Staff of the PM's personal office.

 

[Moviefan-2]

Since you're only just catching up, the alleged bribe-payer is a funeral director by trade and only a local party official in Sudbury, not a highly-paid, full-time Chief of Staff of the PM's personal office.

Last time I checked, Pat Sorbara was still employed as deputy chief of staff in the premier's office.

 

[K Douglas]

Last time I checked, Pat Sorbara was still employed in the premier's office.

Patricia Sorbara is the cousin of former Finance Minister Greg Sorbara. They have been Liberal insiders for years and have a track record of "shady" dealings.

 

[HenrySenior]

Patricia Sorbara is the cousin of former Finance Minister Greg Sorbara. They have been Liberal insiders for years and have a track record of "shady" dealings.

Kathleen Wynne owes her Ontario Liberal Party Leader and her premiership to Greg Sorbara. He is Pat Sorbara's cousin.