‎Premier Kathleen Wynne says there was “no specific offer” of a job from her or the Liberals to a rejected Sudbury candidate as police reopen an investigation in the Feb. 5 byelection controversy.

Ontario Provincial Police confirmed Friday detectives are taking a second look at allegations Andrew Olivier was offered a post to clear the way for defecting New Democrat MP Glenn Thibeault.

The move follows the release of audio recordings with two Liberal operatives by Olivier, who is now running as an independent in the byelection. He came within 1,000 votes of winning the riding for the Liberals in last June’s provincial vote.

“We are reviewing the reported information and will determine our next steps of a criminal investigation,” said Det. Supt. Dave Truax.

Earlier this week, the OPP said its first probe led to a conclusion there were no grounds for criminal charges.

That was before Olivier, who had refused to give the tapes to police without a warrant or subpoena, uploaded the tapes to YouTube. END

Wynne said after a college tour Friday in Sault Ste. Marie that the calls were a way to offer options to Olivier, who is a quadriplegic and tapes calls instead of taking notes.

“There was absolutely no commitment that any one of those things might come to fruition,” Wynne told reporters, adding she does not know if Olivier taped a call he had with her.

“If my comments are released it will confirm once again that what all of us were trying to do was present opportunities that Andrew might want to take advantage of to stay involved as part of the Liberal team,” said Wynne, who will be in Sudbury‎ on Saturday for campaign events with Thibeault.

Asked about the impact of the controversy on the byelection, Wynne said “the people of Sudbury will decide . . . based on their own judgment.”

Olivier says the tapes and transcripts back his allegation that Sudbury Liberal organizer Gerry Lougheed and Liberal campaign chief Pat Sorbara offered him positions as a reward for stepping aside for Thibeault, Wynne’s preferred candidate, who had been coaxed by Lougheed into leaving the NDP and his seat in Parliament.

“She is quite desperate — desperate in a good way — to get that seat back,” Sorbara said of Wynne in the call with Olivier.

Sorbara also told him “we should have the broader discussion about what is it that you’d be most interested in doing . . . whether it’s a full-time or part-time job in a constit (constituency) office, whether it is appointments, supports or commissions, whether it is also going on the exec (party executive), there are lots . . . ”

On Friday, Sorbara said: “I'm glad the tapes are out. They confirm what we said all along, that after Andrew Olivier was told he would not be the candidate, we explored ways he could remain involved.”

A statement from Wynne’s office Thursday said the tapes show Sorbara has been “vindicated of the false allegations” and “Lougheed is not government or Liberal Party staff, he speaks for himself.”

Lougheed has not replied to requests for comment about the recordings.

Opposition parties called on police and Elections Ontario to investigate in the wake of Olivier’s accusations last month, leaving a cloud of uncertainty over the byelection. Elections Ontario hasn’t commented.

A Forum Research poll suggests it’s a close fight between NDP candidate Suzanne Shawbonquit and the former New Democrat, Thibeault, who has been branded a “turncoat” by some one-time colleagues.

“The NDP are gonna s--- all over him,” Lougheed noted to Olivier in a taped conversation in which he also says “the premier wants to talk . . . they would like to present you options in terms of appointments, jobs, whatever, that you and her and Pat Sorbara could talk about.”

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NDP House Leader Gilles Bisson said Wynne is trying to spin her way out of trouble with less than three weeks to the byelection.

“The premier can protest all she wants. They didn’t make a specific offer, they offered the kitchen sink. It’s pretty clear.”

Wynne called the byelection last week after appointing Thibeault as the Liberal candidate. The riding has been without an MPP since New Democrat Joe Cimino suddenly quit in November, just five months after being elected, for unspecified family reasons.

Prior to last June’s election, the riding had been held by veteran Liberal MPP and cabinet minister Rick Bartolucci for almost two decades.

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