Evidence links SK robocalls to “Pierre Poutine” campaign

 

OTTAWA,, February 7, 2013 (Straight Goods News)  — The robocalls controversy came back to the House of Commons this week following a news report showing that the Conservatives were behind questionable calls to Saskatchewan residents over riding boundary changes. Scientific analysis showed that the voice on the calls was almost certainly the same as that used in 2011 to suppress voting in Guelph and elsewhere.

Also this week, the Conservatives were stung by ethical charges against Conservative Senators Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau. Both were exposed this week by a Senate committee for making false claims for residency and housing expenses. On Thursday came news that Brazeau had been arrested for domestic assault. He was subsequently evicted from the Conservative caucus.

 

 

The robocalls controversy stems from Conservative attempts to thwart proposed riding boundary changes by stirring up public opinion against them through a "push poll." These are telephone surveys that pose as polls but are actually intended to feed citizens misleading or provocative information and "push" them to support the phoner's position.

 

"Conservatives paid for fraudulent robocalls using a fake company name to misinform voters and manipulate an important part of our democratic system," NDP leader Tom Mulcair said in the House. "Worse yet, Conservative Party officials lied to Canadians to try to avoid taking responsibility for their actions."

 

Stephen Harper tried to explain things away, saying, "There are electoral commissions in effect to redraw boundaries. Those commissions accept and expect input from parliamentarians, from political parties and from the general public. In Saskatchewan, there has been overwhelming opposition to the particular proposals, but we are simply operating within the process as it exists, and the way indeed it encourages all actors to do." He didn't explain, however, why the Conservatives, who oppose the changes, did not identify themselves in the calls and dodged admitting they'd made them for almost a week.

 

The NDP's Charlie Angus told reporters, "There’s people in the Conservative Party government who are very uncomfortable with this, these tactics of trying to manipulate the citizens of Saskatchewan, using the robocalls, refusing to be accountable for it. I think it’s a serious allegation. This is going right up into the PMO, it’s coming from a senior lieutenant [MP Tom Lukiwski] from Saskatchewan and I think it, it, it shows a question that the Harper tactics are alienating the MP’s who have to explain it to their voters.

 

 

"It’s funny, the Prime Minister defending now they’ve been caught. If this a straight up, okay process, then they would have been upfront about it, but they weren’t. And they didn’t identify themselves. It’s about manipulating the voters to participate."

 

In the House, Angus was scathing on the subject of Duffy, who he calls, "Senator Come-From-Away, Mike Duffy, who hits up the taxpayer for $41,000 by claiming to live in PEI. Then he is an Ontario voter. Then he tries to scam a health card and is turned down. He does not even qualify for the income tax reduction on residency."

 

On Thursday, Angus cracked up the House, asking, "What do Anne of Green Gables and Senator Mike Duffy have in common? They're both fictitious residents of Prince Edward Island."

 

With such serious ethical charges in the works against the Conservatives, it wasn't surprising to see them retreat to safer territory by introducing new legislation against child exploitation and floating the idea of stripping citizenship from terrorists.