Pat Sorbara out as co-chair of Ontario Liberals’ 2018 election campaign

TORONTO – Premier Kathleen Wynne says Pat Sorbara will not be the managing co-chair of the Ontario Liberals’ 2018 election campaign.

In a statement Thursday evening, Wynne said while Sorbara will not be joining the campaign team, she will continue to count on her personal friendship.

Sorbara, who was also Wynne’s deputy chief of staff, was acquitted along with local Liberal fundraiser Gerry Lougheed of Election Act bribery charges in October, after a Sudbury, Ont., judge found no jury would convict them.

Sorbara and Lougheed were accused of offering a would-be candidate a job or appointment to step aside in a 2015 byelection.

The Liberals say Sorbara did not return as the premier’s deputy chief of staff following the trial.

Wynne says the team that stepped up while Sorbara was dealing with the charges in Sudbury has “gelled” in the last several months.