SUDBURY—In an about-face by Ontario Provincial Police and prosecutors, criminal bribery charges have been stayed against local businessman and Liberal activist Gerry Lougheed in last year’s byelection.

The dramatic move Wednesday, just weeks before time was reserved for a July trial or preliminary hearing, came without explanation from federal Crown agent Denys Bradley, who asked the Ontario Court of Justice to enter the stay, setting aside the charges temporarily.

Lougheed’s lawyer, Michael Lacy of Toronto, said prosecutors have one year to reinstate the charges against his client, a well-known fundraiser for Liberal premiers and prime ministers. If not, the charges disappear.

Lacy said his client is “obviously pleased” at the stay, but it appears charges were laid “prematurely,” with police appearing on Lougheed’s doorstep at 6 a.m. one day last year to present him with a summons to appear in court.

“They’ve stayed the charges to either buy themselves more time to investigate the matter or because they realize, in fact, this was not criminal conduct,” he told reporters on the courthouse steps after a brief appearance.

“I’m not going to say this is the Keystone Cops or this is a function of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing, but you can draw your own conclusions.”

The secrecy surrounding the reason for the stay is not helpful “in terms of transparency, in terms of accountability for the public,” Lacy said.

Lougheed, who owns a funeral home and is widely known as a prolific charity fundraiser as well, did not appear in court.

“This has taken a toll on him,” Lacy said, adding it’s rare for prosecutors to reinstate charges that have been stayed, but that Lougheed will nevertheless have the matter “hanging over his head” for another year.

There is also the question of less serious charges under the Elections Act.

Lacy said authorities mentioned in court earlier this month that police have finished an investigation into whether Lougheed and Patricia Sorbara, Premier Kathleen Wynne’s deputy chief of staff, violated the Elections Act during the February 2015 byelection won by Liberal Glenn Thibeault.

The results of that probe are now before prosecutors, who are weighing whether to lay charges, said Lacy, who added he has been given no information on this.

Lougheed had faced one count of unlawfully influencing or negotiating appointments and another of counselling an offence not committed.

OPP Det.-Supt. Dave Truax would say only that the Elections Act investigation is continuing and he “could not speculate” when it would be completed.

“That’s a separate investigation,” said Truax, adding that the parallel probe would “not necessarily” be examining the same evidence as the criminal one.

In Brantford, Wynne said she was “pleased.”

“I think that it is a good outcome. We don’t have any further information in terms of the updates about the issues under the Elections Act, but . . . I’m pleased that this is the outcome,” Wynne said.

But NDP MPP France Gélinas (Nickel Belt) stressed Lougheed has not been exonerated.

“The charges have not been withdrawn; the charges have been stayed,” said Gélinas.

In a statement, Progressive Conservative deputy leader Steve Clark, who originally called the OPP to investigate, said “Ontarians and, in particular, the people of Sudbury deserve to see justice done in this case.”

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“It is curious that a decision would be made to suspend the corruption charges against Gerry Lougheed Jr. before, and not after, the OPP have completed their investigation against Mr. Lougheed and Pat Sorbara under the Elections Act,” said Clark.

Police alleged that Lougheed offered a previous Sudbury Liberal candidate, mortgage broker Andrew Olivier, jobs or political appointments to drop his Liberal nomination bid to make way for Thibeault, Wynne’s hand-picked choice.

If convicted, Lougheed could have faced a prison sentence of up to seven years.

Any Elections Act charges would be in a lower, non-criminal category of violations known as provincial offences where penalties range from fines of up to $25,000 and maximum jail sentences of two years less a day.

Although she was not charged criminally with Lougheed, police have also been investigating Sorbara for possible election violations after Olivier made public his tapes of conversations.

He alleged they both offered him jobs in return for abandoning his nomination bid.

Olivier, who had placed second for the Liberals in the 2014 general election that vaulted Wynne to a majority, ran as in independent in the byelection, placing third.

In one tape, Lougheed said: “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.”

In another, Sorbara told Olivier “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 (constituency) office, whether it is appointments, supports or commissions . . . .”

Olivier, who is a paraplegic, records conversations because he cannot take notes.

After the tapes were released, Greg Essensa, the province’s chief electoral officer, found the Liberals were in “apparent contravention” of bribery laws and referred the matter to authorities for further investigation.

The federal Public Prosecution Service of Canada took over the case to avoid any perceived conflicts of interest with provincial Crown attorneys.

With files from Robert Benzie

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