2012-02-27 Robocall Election Fraud — Amazing response

Thank you for your email expressing concerns about the recent Elections Canada report.  This report, describing the use of illegal “robo-calls”
during last federal election, has traced these calls back to a company that worked for the Conservative Party.

This extremely worrisome development is an attack upon our cherished democratic institutions and demands an immediate response.  There must be a complete investigation to determine those who are responsible.  Individuals or organizations who have conducted such egregious actions need to face jail time.  Additionally, financial rebates for those specific elections must be cancelled and returned to Elections Canada.  (Political parties who obtain a certain percentage of the vote in a riding can receive up to 60% of their expenses refunded via Elections Canada, and 50% nationally.
Combined, this amounts to tens of millions of dollars for the Conservative Party.)  Only through such strong measures will we create a meaningful
deterrent to these actions.

The Conservative government has made continuous efforts to target MPs and opposition parties with unscrupulous tactics as a strategy to gain more voter support.  Like you, I believe this is a disturbing trend that is driving Canadians away from the political process, and have condemned this in the House of Commons on November 22nd:
http://elizabethmaymp.ca/parliament/points-of-order/2011/11/22/telephone-calls-to-mount-royal-constituents

For more information on my experience and thoughts on this issue, I urge you to read my book Losing Confidence: Power, Politics, and the Crisis in Canadian Democracy.  In this book, I focus on the changes occurring in Canadian democracy such as the use of attack ads and muzzling of  scientists.

Thank you for taking the time to write to me.  You are exercising your democratic rights, and I am thankful that you’re doing so.  Please do not
hesitate to contact me if you have any other questions or concerns, and I would encourage you to consult my MP website and peruse Vision Green, available online at http://elizabethmaymp.ca/vision-green.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth May, O.C., M.P.

Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands
Leader of the Green Party of Canada

Demand a public inquiry into the ‘robocall election fraud’
—– Original Message —–

From: Brent Patterson

Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2012 9:01 PM

Subject: ACTION ALERT: Demand a public inquiry into the ‘robocall election fraud’
It has been alleged that at least 34 ridings received illegal voter-suppression calls – advising them that their voting station had changed – during the
last federal election. The total number is expected to grow on Monday. NDP MP Pat Martin says at least 34 ridings received the calls, while Liberal leader Bob Rae says he knows of 27 ridings. Originally it had been thought that 14 ridings had been affected.

The Harper Conservatives hold 166 seats in the House of Commons, 11 seats above the 155-seat requirement to form a majority government. Rabble.ca has pointed out that, “6,201 is the combined margin of victory across the 14 most closely contested Conservative ridings in Canada, with 6,215 being the number needed by the nearest parties in the race to have won these seats by one vote.”

The National Post reports, “Liberal supporters say the repeated calls usually came during dinner, late at night or early in the morning from people claiming to represent the local Liberal candidate. Calls also were placed to voters with Jewish-sounding names during the Saturday Sabbath and in one riding with a South Asian candidate, voters received phone calls from someone imitating a Pakistani accent.”

“Under the Elections Act, it is illegal to tell voters to go to a wrong or non-existent polling station. …NDP leader Nycole Turmel (has) urged for
a thorough investigation by the RCMP and Elections Canada. …Rae says the (Liberal) party is considering calling for a number of byelections or even pursing legal action. …On Friday, Rae sent a letter to House of Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer, asking him to allow an emergency debate on the matter when Parliament resumes Monday.”

To send a message to Bob Paulson, Commissioner of the RCMP; William H. Corbett, Commissioner of Elections Canada; and the party leaders, you can go to http://www.leadnow.ca/robocall-fraud.  The message you can send says, “I demand a full and independent public inquiry, backed by Elections Canada and the RCMP, to expose the facts about the robocall scandal and ensure that the penalty for this election fraud matches the consequences of the crime – including possible by-elections in the affected ridings.”

At this hour (Sunday night, 9:52 pm ET), 14,679 messages have been sent with this demand.

= = = = = = = =

tim powers Globe and Mail Update
Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2012 9:27AM EST

In the opposition’s hysteria around the robo-call controversy you’d think every MP, staffer, member of the party, supporter and Conservative voter has a cultural predisposition to win elections at any cost and through any means. You’d also assume that before Elections Canada has even  included its investigation, never mind charged anyone, the Conservative Party itself is guilty of the most serious infractions possible and has perverted our democratic system beyond compare.

More related to this story Tory staffer leaves MP’s office in wake of voter-suppression probe

Harper denies knowledge of ‘black ops’ phone calls during 2011 election

Elections Canada on misleading Tory call: ‘Inaccuracies can occur’

MORE:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/second-reading/silver-powers/tories-want-answers-on-voter-suppression-too/article2349972/