Opposition PCs demand Premier step down

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The opposition PCs are demanding Premier Kathleen Wynne step down, after police laid criminal charges against a senior Liberal fundraiser, in connection with last winter’s provincial byelection in Sudbury.

The OPP say they charged 61-year-old Gerald Lougheed with one count of counseling an offense not committed, and one count of unlawfully influencing or negotiating appointments.

The investigation was launched after a former Liberal candidate said he was offered a job to step aside in the February 2014 byelection for Premier Wynne’s preferred candidate, former NDP MP Glenn Thibeault. Kathleen Wynne has maintained Andrew Olivier was never going to be the candidate and the party was just trying to keep him in the fold.

The opposition is calling it a shameful day for Ontario. The Premier and Deputy Premier say they’re taking the charges very seriously, but insist they’ve been open and transparent ever since the OPP opened the investigation.