Ontario Provincial Police are stepping up their investigation into bribery accusations against Premier Kathleen Wynne’s deputy chief of staff in the Sudbury by-election.

Investigators have obtained a court order to get audio recordings of two Liberal operatives, including Ms. Wynne’s deputy chief of staff Patricia Sorbara, allegedly offering Andrew Olivier a government job as they tried to persuade him to drop out of the race.

The revelation comes just days before the Thursday by-election, in which the Liberals are locked in a tight battle with the NDP and Mr. Olivier, who is running as an independent.

Mr. Olivier said investigators visited him last week with a production order for his recordings and transcripts of his conversations with Ms. Sorbara and Gerry Lougheed, a local Liberal fundraiser.

“[The police] approached me and submitted a production order last week, requesting to have any other information given over to them so that they can conduct their investigation or reopen their investigation,” he told The Globe and Mail. “It shows that they’re pursuing the investigation into this.”

Mr. Olivier said officers met him at his campaign office, where he handed over the information they were looking for. He said he also met with Elections Ontario officials for a lengthy interview.

Detective-Superintendent Dave Truax, head of the OPP’s criminal investigations branch, confirmed police had obtained the production order and that Mr. Olivier co-operated.

Mr. Olivier, who is quadriplegic, regularly records conversations because it is easier than taking notes. He previously posted both recordings online.

In one telephone call last December, Ms. Sorbara presented Mr. Olivier with a menu of possible job options. At the time, Mr. Olivier was running for the Ontario Liberal nomination, but Ms. Sorbara wanted him to drop out so that Glenn Thibeault, then an NDP Member of Parliament in Ottawa, could receive the provincial nomination unopposed.

“We should have the broader discussion about what is it that you’d be most interested in doing and then decide what shape that could take,” Ms. Sorbara said in the recording. “Whether it’s a full-time or a part-time job at a constituency office, whether it is appointments to boards or commissions, whether it is also going on the executive.”

Mr. Lougheed, a long-time Sudbury Liberal activist, made a similar pitch in a meeting at Mr. Olivier’s office: “The Premier wants to talk to you. We would like to present to you options in terms of appointments, jobs, whatever.”

The Elections Act forbids offering someone a job in exchange for not running in an election. Opposition MPPs contend it could also constitute a criminal bribery offence.

Ms. Wynne has defended Ms. Sorbara’s actions. The Premier concedes that the Liberals wanted to keep Mr. Olivier “involved” in politics. But she argues that, since she had the power to unilaterally appoint Mr. Thibeault as her candidate and reject Mr. Olivier’s nomination bid, any jobs Ms. Sorbara dangled in front of Mr. Olivier were not made in exchange for him dropping out.

“I had made a decision about appointing a candidate, which is within the purview of the leader of the Liberal Party,” Ms. Wynne said Monday. “At the same time, I tried to keep a young man who had been a candidate previously involved and reached out to him. Did that turn out the way we would’ve wanted, and is he still involved? No. But would I try to keep him involved again? Absolutely.”

Ms. Wynne and Ms. Sorbara have also met with Elections Ontario, which is conducting a separate investigation into the incident.

Mr. Oliver says he also spoke directly with Ms. Wynne, before his conversation with Ms. Sorbara. He says she asked him to step aside, but did not directly make any job offers herself. He declined to say whether he made a recording of that conversation as well.

Mr. Olivier went public with the story in mid-December, then released the tapes in January. He said he only released the tapes because some people did not believe his account of the conversations.

“It was quite difficult to even campaign on openness and truthfulness and integrity when everyone in town here thought that I was crying wolf,” he said. “The point of [releasing the tapes] was to let people know that I wasn’t lying, that I was being truthful and honest.”

The Sudbury by-election will not change the balance of power in the legislature, but the Liberals are looking to it as a way to shore up their slim majority. The NDP, meanwhile, wants to hold on to the seat it wrested from the Liberals last June. They have nominated Suzanne Shawbonquit, abusiness consultant, to carry their banner.

The Progressive Conservative candidate is Paula Peroni.