BARRIE, Ont. -- Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has a date to meet with police investigating allegations two Liberals broke the law in the lead-up to a recent byelection.
The Ontario Provincial Police are probing allegations the Liberals -- including Wynne's deputy chief of staff -- offered would-be Sudbury byelection candidate Andrew Olivier a job or appointment to step aside for their preferred candidate.
It has been about two months since audio recordings of the conversations in question were made public, prompting the police to reopen an investigation they had previously deemed closed.
Wynne had until Tuesday said a "scheduling issue" was the reason she hadn't yet been interviewed by the OPP, but said now the police and her legal counsel have found a "mutually convenient date."
"They've also agreed that because there's an ongoing investigation the dates and times of the interview will not be made public and this is a normal protocol in the context of an ongoing investigation," she said after a speech in Barrie, Ont., reading from a prepared statement on the matter.
"The OPP and my counsel have agreed on a date for my interview to be conducted before the end of April."
The opposition parties noted on Tuesday morning that Wynne's speech in Barrie was not far from Orillia, where the OPP headquarters are located, and suggested she could squeeze in an interview after her speech.
Wynne still would not say what "scheduling issue" was holding up the timing of the interview.
Conversations with Wynne's deputy chief of staff, Pat Sorbara, and local Liberal organizer Gerry Lougheed, who is also chair of Sudbury's police services board, are at the centre of the allegations.
Wynne spoke to Olivier as well, but her call with him was not recorded.
The OPP began investigating allegations the Liberals' actions violated the Criminal Code late last year, but last month began looking into the conduct under the Election Act as well.
Elections Ontario concluded that Sorbara and Lougheed's actions constitute an "apparent contravention" of a section of the Election Act concerning bribery but the agency has no mandate to conduct prosecutions.
