Robocalls Scandal: Bob Rae Comes Clean On Calls, Challenges Tories To Do Same

Robocalls Scandal Bob Rae

First Posted: 03/13/2012 1:25 pm Updated: 03/16/2012 9:27 am

OTTAWA - The Liberal party has given Elections Canada samples of its robocall messages and scripts for live calls to voters during last spring's election campaign.

In a letter Tuesday to the watchdog agency, Interim Leader Bob Rae said the party has recordings of all its campaign robocalls and will make them available as well if needed for the investigation into alleged electoral fraud.

And he's called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives to be equally transparent.

"If the Conservatives truly have nothing to hide, they would follow the lead of the Liberal party and supply their documentation on the robocalls they conducted to Elections Canada immediately," Rae said.

Elections Canada is investigating thousands of complaints about fraudulent robocalls in which someone purporting to be calling on behalf of the agency misdirected voters to non-existent polling locations.

The watchdog is also looking into harassing live calls purportedly made on behalf of an opposition party but that appeared aimed at alienating that party's supporters.

Opposition parties have been accusing the Conservatives of masterminding a widespread, vote-suppression scheme since discovering that fraudulent robocalls in the hotly contested riding in Guelph, Ont., had been traced to a company used by Tory candidates.

However, the Tories have fought back by claiming they too were victims of harassing or misleading calls and accusing the Liberals of their own misdeeds.

For the second consecutive day, they zeroed in on a robocall in Guelph that attacked the Tory candidate's position on abortion without saying that the call was being made on behalf of Liberal incumbent Frank Valeriote.

Valeriote has admitted the woman who recorded the call used a fake name and didn't identify that she was calling on his behalf. He's said that all information and documentation on that robocall has already been given to Elections Canada investigators, who've not indicated that his campaign did anything wrong.

However, in the Commons, the Tories continued to label the abortion robocall "misleading" and "illegal" and accused the Liberals of raising a stink about electoral fraud as part of an elaborate coverup.

"I guess the reason for all these allegations has been to cover that very fact," Harper told the Commons. "It makes us wonder how many other ridings the Liberal party did this in."

Harper also contended that his party made all its information regarding automated and live campaign calls available to Elections Canada several months ago.

Rae shot back that the Tories have provided information only about their robocalls in Guelph and then only because they were required by court order to do so.

New Democrat MP Charlie Angus said the Tories are counter-attacking with allegations of Liberal wrongdoing in a bid to divert attention from the real issue.

"We are talking about electoral fraud. Only one party is being investigated for electoral fraud. Only one party's operatives are being brought forward."

Angus later said the NDP would hand over its own records of campaign calls if there's an independent inquiry into electoral fraud, an idea Harper has rejected. Otherwise, he said: "This is not about us."

In his letter to election commissioner William Corbett, Rae said election returns already filed by the party and its local candidates include all relevant financial information about live and automated phone services used during the campaign. He offered to supply more records if necessary.

"The complaints being made by Canadians are disturbing and unprecedented and must be resolved," Rae wrote.

"If there is any additional documentation or assistance that Elections Canada requires from the Liberal Party of Canada in order to get to the bottom of these reprehensible allegations, please let us know and we will be more than happy to comply."

In a veiled reference to the Tories, Rae added: "We feel it would be irresponsible and tantamount to obstruction for any political party to be anything less than fully transparent and co-operative with your investigation."

Meanwhile, the government confirmed that it will introduce legislation within six months to give Elections Canada more investigative powers, precisely as called for in an NDP motion.

"We support that motion and we will act on that motion," Tim Uppal, minister for democratic reform, told the Commons.

Opposition parties had been skeptical about the government's willingness to act on the motion even though Tory MPs had supported it. The motion called for additional powers to be given to Elections Canada, including requiring candidates and parties to produce campaign receipts.

It also specified that the agency should be enabled to apply those new powers to records from last spring's election campaign.

20 FUNNIEST ROBOCALL MOVIE TITLES
Loading Slideshow...
  • John Patrick Stanley

  • Chan

  • Pat Papadeas

  • Pamela Allard

  • Rob Alexander

  • NLtoast

  • old badger

  • NLtoast

  • ThisHourHas22Minutes

  • ThisHourHas22Minutes

  • Raymond Reid

  • NLtoast

  • Joseph Uranowski

  • michael

  • Sarah Millar

  • Posthuman

  • Don H

  • Garrett Rodman

  • Su

  • Moke Lachbat

FOLLOW HUFFPOST CANADA POLITICS

OTTAWA - The Liberal party has given Elections Canada samples of its robocall messages and scripts for live calls to voters during last spring's election campaign.In a letter Tuesday to the watchdog a...
OTTAWA - The Liberal party has given Elections Canada samples of its robocall messages and scripts for live calls to voters during last spring's election campaign.In a letter Tuesday to the watchdog a...
Filed by Daniel Tencer  | 
 
 
  • Comments
  • 167
  • Pending Comments
  • 0
  • View FAQ
Comments are closed for this entry
View All
Favorites
Recency  | 
Popularity
Page: 1 2 3  Next ›  Last »  (3 total)
03:09 AM on 03/21/2012
what is perhaps the most galling about all this is that even if there were no truth to any of this, and I am sure there is at least some. the arrogant and fascist way that Stephen and Deana dn so on have handled this should indicate to most taht they feel "fireproof
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
TwoZeroOZ
02:30 PM on 03/14/2012
Why would the conservatives record the illegal robocalls?

Seems inane to ask for record copies...
This comment has been removed due to violations of our [Guidelines]
photo
Spanky McFarlane
ILLEGITIMUS NON CARBORUNDUM.
07:14 AM on 03/14/2012
If this is beyond the ability of Elections Canada, then our Intelligence Service (if not already involved) needs to find who was trying to subvert the electorate as they pose a real threat to our Country & how it functions.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Skookum1
truth can't be bought, but lies sure can be sold..
09:13 AM on 03/14/2012
Chris McFadden, former head of CSIS, tried to expose cabinet ministers in Western Canada, including IIRC a first minister or two, as agents of or coopted by foreign governments/interests. He was fired, and retracted, and replaced by someone more compliant, and visible minority politicians were targeted by the media as who he'd meant (and I don't think he did).

Our government is a centralized autocracy. Its own investigative arms are all coopted. We saw this in BC re the BC Rail Scandal, where countless wrongdoings were presented to the RCMP, and somewhat like the Tories when confronted by obvious facts, the response was "when you have some proof, come back", rather than show any interest in finding the proof themselves.....similar again to having police investigate police, it's pointless to assume any inquiry appointed by Harper would ever investigate the Tories properly. The whole reason the Governor-General *I*S* in the office he holds now is he tailored the Airbus inquiry to exclude all other Tories and only focus on Mulroney himself, and also went along with not allowing the word "Airbus" to be used.

We do not have a democracy, we haven't had in a long time. If we ever did.
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
02:07 AM on 03/14/2012
Do the honorable thing and resign Mr. Harper, you have lost the faith of the Canadian people. Because of this you have condemned the Conservative party in future elections.
12:09 AM on 03/14/2012
The media doesn't seem to get it, the issue is not robocalls in general, the issue is using robocalls to interfear with certain citizens ability to vote.
02:19 PM on 03/14/2012
Oh they know they are just hoping they can confuse you enough to support Stephen again.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
logicanada
Blogger, radio co-host, writer, editor, voice-over
11:33 PM on 03/13/2012
Ray is looking so much more like a Prime Minister and a leader that Vladimir Harper could ever hope to.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Tyler Austin
Women = people. Corperations ≠ people.
10:58 PM on 03/13/2012
I give a 1 in 4 chance they turn them over.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
robertmiller252
10:22 PM on 03/13/2012
In a little under two weeks, the Liberals were able to muster social activist web sites to submit 15 to 16,000+ hits to Elections Canada about robocalls.

They knew very well that they were going to lose the last election very badly, so they decided to cook up a scheme of robocalls and ultimately blame the Conservatives.

But they were so brilliant, they picked ridings where they were going to win anyway, places such as Guelph and Edmonton East. Now they have a scandal that they can milk dry in the hopes that they can exercise their God-given right to govern Canada.

Well, it ain't working so far. Twice they have had to apologize. The "twitter" affair and the Guelph robocalls.

Meanwhile not one single, solitary charge has yet been laid against the Conservative Party.

Keep it up Liberals. You are non-entities now and you will remain that way because the Canadian public at large is just not into to your smear scheme.
SamEasy
You really don`t want to know.
10:34 PM on 03/13/2012
Are you trying to say that Liberals are better schemers than Neocons? Excuse me sir, I don't think so. The ReformCons look more and more Republican each time they make a move or retract from their previous statements. Deception, combined with dumbing down the of their less educated base, is how Neocons get elected.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Tony frm Banff
Search for truth,not spin
10:53 PM on 03/13/2012
Dont forget about the last bit of election fraud the cons commited in 2006, and how they deflected and lied about that.
The sad part about the conservatives is they have not offered Elections Canada any thing unless subpoenaed, they have conservatives now lawyering up, they commited VOTER FRAUD!!!!
Oh and why you so worried about a 3rd place party, Canada is waking up to the lying and deceiving cons, is that it.
photo
freeSpeakr
I stand on the shoulders of giants
07:39 PM on 03/13/2012
The CPC better own up to what it's done or the people of Canada are going to give it a good electoral spanking!
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Jason Bullock
07:36 PM on 03/13/2012
Let's see the Cons step up and do the same. What... they won't? Why is that? Oh, yeah, admiting wrong would open them up to further scrutiny. Can't have that.

The Cons and their supporters are just ticked off right now, because the rest of the counrty wants some accountability.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Michael747
07:31 PM on 03/13/2012
The largest problem is that this entire scandal has been framed inappropriately and incongruously by the media. The False equivalency paradigm has taken over. It is one thing to call someone and say vote for us because we support X and they don't; It is entirely another to misrepresent elections Canada and deliberately send someone to the wrong polling station. Somehow, the media (and the Cons) see these as synonymous- I would expect it from Harper, but the media?? It has been suggested that the media is complicit in this "lie" because they want access to the PM. What good is access if all the journalists are doing is repeating talking points and not holding elected officials to account? Perhaps instead of trying to convince a bought and payed for Governor General to do the right thing, we should be mass targeting media and their respective sponsors.
photo
freeSpeakr
I stand on the shoulders of giants
07:42 PM on 03/13/2012
The people that own Harper also own the corporate media. The new communications paradigm of the wurld wahd interwebs constitutes the town hall (or some variant thereof) of tmw. That's why stuff like this hasn't hit the papers, RW radio, or most news outlets.

Racknine “Adding final servers for the political super-weapon.” http://goo.gl/biFeU

Front Porch Pres in Fantino's office. http://goo.gl/89TwE

Del Mastro makes robocalls http://goo.gl/JC7e9
photo
freeSpeakr
I stand on the shoulders of giants
07:44 PM on 03/13/2012
mea culpa the Del Mastro story is from the Cgy Herald. Kudos to the Herald, usually they soft pedal all the CPC negative stuff.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Gbourcier
07:27 PM on 03/13/2012
I wish people would give Bob Rae a break and let him be leader of the Liberal party. That whole Ontario Premiere thing is history now and he's spent years of his life going over his mistakes.
He'd be the best prime minister we've had in decades. just saying.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
robertmiller252
07:35 PM on 03/13/2012
And you say this after the way he ruined Ontario? 19% interest rates. Rae days, etc.
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
photo
viennawoods
An optimistic cynic.
07:52 PM on 03/13/2012
I'll give the Rae days, They sucked. But how is a provincial premier responsible for interest rates that are set at the federal level, and heavily influenced by the world economy?
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
oxjr
11:13 PM on 03/13/2012
Sorry, but rightly or wrongly there is a stink of Ontario Premier attached to him. Ontario HATES every premier they ever had over the last few decades so no one who has ever been premier should ever take over the leadership of any federal party. To win an election you need Ontario. The Liberals need an east coast or west coast up and comer to take lead of the party.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
robertmiller252
07:24 PM on 03/13/2012
Nice makeup job Mr. Rae. At least you came "prepared".
photo
Spanky McFarlane
ILLEGITIMUS NON CARBORUNDUM.
07:08 PM on 03/13/2012
Even the 'kid' the Conservatives fired is giving 'mixed messages' to the media.
At what point will they realize they too are being played, & almost as much as the Canadian electorate?

This is & was a second attempt at election fraud by this Government & when it all comes out in the wash, I'm sure they will be as guilty of this as they were on their IN/OUT fraud.
The problem is they were able to wait for the 'lights to dim' before they owned up to it with a slap on the wrist.

That can't be allowed to happen again.