Crossover from my
TL
--------------------------------------------------
It came as a shock to many in the ONDP caucus when MPP for Sudbury, Joe Cimino announced that he would resign his seat after only 5 months, sighting "personal health reasons." The Liberals sought to find a candidate to run in the by-election. Many pundits assumed that Andrew Olivier, the Liberal candidate in the 2014 provincial election would easily win the nomination and run as the official candidate for the Grits. What would happen next would be the main issue of the by-election. On December 15, Olivier went public stating that prominent Liberal Gerry Lougheed and Premier Wynne's Deputy Chief of Staff, Pat Sorbara had called him and offered a patronage appointment if he would step aside for another candidate. Both the PCs and the NDP were enraged with the Tories asking for an OPP investigation with the NDP asking Elections Ontario to investigate. The Liberals would be hammered daily in Question Period by the two opposition parties on the matter. Then in an already turbulent race, came the announcement that NDP MP for Sudbury, Glenn Thibeault would jump ship to provincial politics and run as the official Liberal candidate in Sudbury. This came as a blow to the provincial NDP and especially to the federal NDP as they've been lagging in the polls and have dealt with numerous floor-crossings. The campaign would be full of drama as Olivier would release tapes of Sorbara and Lougheed trying to convince him to step aside, which pushed the PCs to call for the OPP to re-open the investigation after they originally found no wrongdoing. Then came the announcement that Olivier would run in the by-election, furthering adding to the already chaotic by-election. Polls showed a very tight race between the NDP candidate, Suzanne Shawbonquit and Liberal candidate, Glenn Thibeault with many pollsters suggesting that the race would come down to the wire. On February 5th, crowds began to gather in the local pubs and well known restaurants across the city, glued onto the TVs, watching as the results started to pour in. Around 11:00 p.m. was when it became clear, that Shawbonquit had held the riding for the NDP. All parties lost votes, mainly to Andrew Olivier's independent candidacy. The PCs registered their worse result, only achieving a mere 5% of the vote and dropping 8 points. The Liberals, who lost once again in the riding were left with an OPP investigation speeding towards them with Thibeault now becoming the centre of speculation that he might run for the federal Liberal nomination for the 2015 federal election. What would come next would become a lasting legacy of Kathleen Wynne's government.