Two top Ontario Liberals face charges in the 2015 Sudbury byelection.

The head of Premier Kathleen Wynne’s re-election campaign and a Liberal fundraiser are facing Elections Act charges for alleged bribery.

Patricia Sorbara, who until recently was the Premier’s deputy chief of staff, and Sudbury funeral director Gerry Lougheed have been charged by the Ontario Provincial Police.

Sorbara faces two counts, Lougheed one.

They’re to appear in Sudbury court November 21.

Criminal charges of bribery were stayed against Lougheed in Sudbury last April, while detectives continued their probe into the lesser offences under the Elections Act. Sorbara was never criminally charged.

The Elections Act charges stem from the campaign in which paraplegic mortgage broker Andrew Olivier claimed both Sorbara and Lougheed offered him jobs to drop out of the nomination race, clearing the way for Wynne’s preferred candidate, former NDP MP Glen Thibeault.

Today’s dramatic move follows almost two years of investigation. It also comes with the November 17th byelection campaigns underway in Niagara West-Glanbrook and Ottawa-Vanier.