Sudbury byelection trial: Olivier 'wasn't getting the hint' that he would not be running

Day 8 of the Sudbury byelection bribery trial delved deeper into the inner workings of the Ontario Liberal party, leading into that key 2015 vote.

The court first heard from Kim Donaldson, who was the Liberal Party's nomination commissioner during the 2014 general election and 2015 Sudbury byelection.

She testified that like many other Ontario Liberals she didn't know who Glenn Thibeault was when she first heard he was interested in running for the party, but after knowing that he was defecting from the NDP, she considered him not just a star candidate, but a "unicorn."   

Donaldson recommended Thibeault be appointed as quickly as possible, believing it would be a "clear signal to the north that we believed in the north."

She told the court that there was "unease" in the party that Olivier "had not gotten the message" that Thibeault was to be the candidate and no nomination race would be held.

Former Liberal CEO and campaign director Pat Sorbara and prominent Sudbury businessman Gerry Lougheed are charged with bribing former candidate Andrew Olivier to step aside so NDP MP Glenn Thibeault could switch to the Liberals and run in the 2015 byelection.

Sorbara is also charged with a second count of bribery under the Election Act with bribing Thibeault to become a Liberal.

Azam Ishmael, the former executive director of the Liberal Caucus Service Bureau of Ontario, was also involved in deciding who would be the Sudbury byelection candidate.

The court heard emails between he and Sorbara about how the Sudbury byelection was going to be "tricky" especially "managing the local folks."

"We didn't want them having warring discussions in the media," testified Ishmael, who is now national director of the federal Liberal party.

Ishmael is the latest senior ranking party official to testify that he didn't think Olivier was a great candidate for Sudbury and feared his supporters would lead to public in-fighting during the byelection.

The current deputy chief of staff to Premier Kathleen Wynne, Shelley Potter, took the stand in the afternoon. 

Her job is to bring potential appointments to come of the 500 boards and commissions to cabinet for approval. 

She laid out the process for filling spots on boards and commissions, saying there are a number of checks before someone is official appointed.

"It's not complicated, but it's detailed and it can take a long time," Potter testified.

Neil Downs, the former director of the Public Appointments Secretariat of Ontario, testified that his office didn't judge the "merit" of appointments, but largely administered the filling of some 1,500 spots on boards and commissions based on the recommendations of the premier and other government officials.

The testimony of both Downs and Potter is to give context to the alleged offer made to Andrew Olivier by Lougheed and Sorbara, who on taped conversations Olivier released some three years ago, talk about specific positions the premier could arrange if he was interested.

The defence has argued this was just a general invitation to keep Olivier "in the Liberal family" and not a specific offer, since any public appointment or job with the party would have to go through an application process.

Who's who in the byelection bribery trial

The accused:

Pat Sorbara, former Liberal Party CEO, campaign director and deputy chief-of-staff to the premier.
Gerry Lougheed Jr., Liberal organizer and a Sudbury businessman.

Judge: Howard Borenstein, from Toronto.

Prosecutors: David McKercher, Vern Brewer and Rick Visca.

Defence lawyers: Michael Lacy for Lougheed, Brian Greenspan and Erin Dann for Sorbara.

Witnesses to be called by the Crown (in anticipated order):

• Andrew Olivier: 2014 Ontario Liberal candidate, who accused the party of bribing him to stand aside in the 2015 byelection for star candidate and now Sudbury MPP and Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault.
• Simon Tunstall, chief executive officer of the Ontario Liberal party 2012 to 2015.
• Aaron St. Pierre, Olivier's campaign manager.
• Rick Bartolucci, former Sudbury MPP and cabinet minister. (subpoenaed but not called to testify) 
• Kathleen Wynne, premier of Ontario.
• William Nurmi, then president of the Sudbury provincial Liberal riding association.
• Dominic Giroux, then president of Laurentian University, incoming president of Health Sciences North.
• Siloni Waraich, past president of Liberal Party of Ontario.
• Andre Bisson, then vice-president of Sudbury provincial Liberal riding association.
• Darrell Marsh, who worked in Thibeault's NDP MP constituency office, then moved to Liberals with him.
• Brian Band, who worked in Thibeault's NDP MP constituency office, then moved to Liberals with him.
• Marianne Matichuk, former Greater Sudbury mayor, who was interested in running for Ontario Liberals.
• Vince Borg, past president of the Ontario Liberal Party.
• Kim Donaldson, nomination commissioner for Ontario Liberal Party.
• Azam Ishmael, former executive director of the Liberal Caucus Service Bureau of Ontario
• Neil Downs, director of the public appointments secretariat for government of Ontario.
• Shelley Potter, deputy chief of staff to premier of Ontario.
• Glenn Thibeault, former NDP MP for Sudbury, now Sudbury Liberal MPP and energy minister.