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February 24, 2012 2:55 PM

"Elections Canada has traced fraudulent phone calls made during the federal election to an Edmonton voice-broadcast company that worked for the Conservative Party across the country." --National Post
posted by seanmpuckett (68 comments total)

Tory staffer leaves MP’s office in wake of voter-suppression probe

Fucking hilarious picture of said staffer with our own Finance Minister.

I can almost hear the GM editor chortling as he okayed the photo for publication.
posted by KokuRyu at 3:02 PM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

So do people actually get prosecuted in Canada, or are you guys taking too many pages from the book of your unfortunate southern neighbor?
posted by wierdo at 3:04 PM on February 24, 2012 [2 favorites]

I'm cringing as I imagine which Facebook photo they'd use in a news story about me.
It gives me something to think about other than what's being done to the damn country.
posted by Stagger Lee at 3:04 PM on February 24, 2012

The man doesn't seem dangerous when you hear from him every now and again through the newspaper.

When you really read up on Stephen Harper though, hot damn the man is doing his best Bush II impression right now. I hope people finally get up the gumption to turf him out (but in favor of who... lamentable leadership abounds currently).
posted by Slackermagee at 3:04 PM on February 24, 2012 [4 favorites]

So a disposable underling has been fingered? This is my shocked face.

And good work on the phone sleuthing, Elections Canada.
posted by maudlin at 3:05 PM on February 24, 2012 [5 favorites]

Conservative Party? You must mean The Harper Government.
posted by stinkycheese at 3:05 PM on February 24, 2012 [25 favorites]

Fraudulently suppressing voters ought to be a kind of treason.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:09 PM on February 24, 2012 [33 favorites]

I got an email from Lead Now about it asking me to get in contact with Elections Canada about launching an official inquiry. It looks like it's back up now, but when I first accessed the email it kept throwing up all sorts of application errors, which seemed...ominous.

I'm glad this is getting a decent amount of publicity, at the least.
posted by Phire at 3:10 PM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

It kills me how people who would never dream (should they even have the option) of voting PQ because "they're intent on destroying the country" proudly vote Tory and smile while these criminals dismantle Canada and sell us down the river.
posted by stinkycheese at 3:12 PM on February 24, 2012 [12 favorites]

I thought that former PQ voters switched to Jack in the last election? What was the Conservative share of the popular vote? 38%? I think it was suburban Ontario and Vancouver that helped push them over the edge.
posted by KokuRyu at 3:16 PM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

It's somehow comforting to know that modern conservatives are scumbags everywhere, not just in the US. I wonder if it's through some sort of morphic resonance or if they actually communicate with each other.
posted by doctor_negative at 3:18 PM on February 24, 2012 [4 favorites]

The Conservatives were already found guilty under the Election Act of overspending in 2006 and intentionally attempting to evade regulations that were in place to prevent that. Their punishment was a $52k fine. Presumably their current strategy is just to shamelessly break the law every election and eat the cost. $52k to buy an election? Why not?
posted by mek at 3:21 PM on February 24, 2012 [5 favorites]

I think it was suburban Ontario and Vancouver that helped push them over the edge.

I don't think Vancouver had much to do with it;it looks like the Conservatives only gained 1 seat and the total seats held by right-wing parties in the area has been up and down around the same level for much of the decade.
posted by Hoopo at 3:24 PM on February 24, 2012

Harper is responsible for heading the first Canadian government to be found in contempt of parliament.
posted by Stagger Lee at 3:24 PM on February 24, 2012 [3 favorites]

..or even back into the 70s perhaps
posted by Hoopo at 3:25 PM on February 24, 2012

Although I would personally love to see this tied back to some big names in the CRAP party, judging by his stupidity in grabbing a ballot box in front of Elections officials, maybe he is just dumb enough to do it himself.

My only question is, if the name was given over to the RCMP back in November, why is it only now circulating?
posted by saucysault at 3:26 PM on February 24, 2012

That kid is going to go a long way in Conservative politics.
posted by klanawa at 3:26 PM on February 24, 2012

How did he even have a job in government after trying to steal a ballot box?

Is his job title "professional scapegoat"?
posted by ODiV at 3:28 PM on February 24, 2012 [2 favorites]

From the perspective of the States, Canada seems to rapidly be becoming "Florida North."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:33 PM on February 24, 2012

KokuRyu: I meant voters outside Quebec.
posted by stinkycheese at 3:34 PM on February 24, 2012

The discouraging thing is that all of this seems like the US Republican strategy writ small.
posted by Danf at 3:38 PM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

maudlin: So a disposable underling has been fingered? This is my shocked face.

Yes, maybe Michael Sona can get together and commiserate over drinks with

Owen Lippert
Jasmine MacDonnell
Russell Ullyatt
Sebastien Togneri
Kasra Nejatian

Nejatian in particular might have some tips on how to be quietly welcomed back into the fold.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:38 PM on February 24, 2012 [4 favorites]

Liberal supporters in a dozen ridings, mostly in Ontario, reported mysterious harassing calls, often late in the evening or early in the morning, where rude callers from a phone bank pretended to be working for the Liberals.

Anyone have any details on this part?
posted by mreleganza at 3:39 PM on February 24, 2012

KokuRyu: I meant voters outside Quebec.

The PQ is (was?) conservative in their own way. Language laws? Baby bonuses?
posted by KokuRyu at 3:40 PM on February 24, 2012

It's better to be unapologetic than to ask forgiveness or permission.
posted by seanmpuckett at 3:45 PM on February 24, 2012 [4 favorites]

judging by his stupidity in grabbing a ballot box in front of Elections officials

Oh wow, I should have read all the way down. They're pinning this on that same stupid zealot?

That kid is going to go a long way in Conservative politics.

Yes and no. The Conservatives tend to cut ties when someone gets burned in a public fashion. Look at Helena Guergis and Raheem Jaffer and Bruce Carson. They approve until you get busted.
posted by Hoopo at 3:49 PM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

This all went down in my home riding of Guelph, Ontario. I worked for Elections Canada on voting day as a Deputy Returning Officer and had at least seven or eight voters (and that's just at my ballot box, out of hundreds in the riding) tell me they received calls telling them their voting location had changed, went to the "substitute" location to find nothing there, and then came all the way back to the right location to cast their vote. I have no idea how many other people just gave up after the ruse and ended up not voting. It should be one of the highest crimes in the land...but few will care.
The problem is that even the most die-hard defenders of democracy and voting rights will just shrug and look the other way if it's "their" side that pulls shit like this. Politics has become so fractured and partisan that the only thing that matters is allegiance to your team. My prediction is that nobody will be charged and the whole issue will disappear within a few weeks. Harper still has enormous support and this scandal won't erode it one bit.
posted by rocket88 at 3:49 PM on February 24, 2012 [8 favorites]

How did he even have a job in government after trying to steal a ballot box?

He was a political, hired by the Cons, not a public servant. Suppressing votes is just part of his regular duties.
posted by bonehead at 3:50 PM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

So can we get a do-over?
posted by chococat at 3:51 PM on February 24, 2012 [4 favorites]

judging by his stupidity in grabbing a ballot box in front of Elections officials

Hah this is the same guy? Clearly he's just a hired goon, but what a goon.
posted by mek at 3:52 PM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

The PQ have consistently been Canada's most progressive parties. See: election financing, tenant's rights, gay rights, gay marriage, union rights, etc etc.
posted by docgonzo at 3:56 PM on February 24, 2012

So can we get a do-over?

Quoting one of Richard Nixon's advisers after he lost the 1960 presidential election due to alleged mob-connected unseemliness in Illinois: "Suck it up, Dick, they stole this election fair and square. We'll get them next time."

Which kind of makes sense to me. The stakes surrounding who's President of the USA are extremely high. It is the seat of political on the planet (or was). So it makes sense that the fighting gets dirty.

But Canada!? We're just not that big a deal.

Or are we?
posted by philip-random at 4:01 PM on February 24, 2012

But remember this is the party whose main platform is "Accountability"!
posted by Vindaloo at 5:31 PM on February 24, 2012

The PQ is (was?) conservative in their own way.

My point was simply that the PQ has a reputation among Anglo-Canadians as 'the part that wants to harm this country' when the Tories seem hellbent on doing the same.
posted by stinkycheese at 5:49 PM on February 24, 2012

Oh well, too bad it's Friday evening and I'm already too drunk to give a fuck.

well timed Elections Canada
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:14 PM on February 24, 2012

Some 14 ridings were affected. That punk was a tool, not the brains.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:56 PM on February 24, 2012 [2 favorites]

mreleganza: Anyone have any details on this part?

Yes, more (quite a bit of detail) from the National Post:
At least 14 election ridings blitzed with live calls from fake Liberals

An analysis of reports of mysterious harassing phone calls during the May 2011 election points to the existence of a systematic voter suppression campaign targeting Liberal voters in tightly contested ridings.

Unlike the pre-recorded “robocalls” now under investigation by Elections Canada, these calls came from live callers, likely working from a call centre.

A Postmedia News-Ottawa Citizen investigation based on interviews with dozens of campaign workers has identified 14 ridings — mostly closely fought electoral districts in southern Ontario — where electors reported receiving fake live calls.

Many received calls in the middle of the night from callers claiming they represented the local Liberal candidate.

Jewish voters in two ridings complained of receiving repeated phone calls at meal time on the Saturday Sabbath. In another riding where the Liberal candidate was of Pakistani heritage, some said the callers mimicked a South Asian accent.

People who received the calls report that the callers would phone repeatedly, irritating the recipients, and then speak to them rudely...
posted by flex at 10:57 PM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

Buried in that piece:

While a single person could easily set up the robocall blasts, making a large number of live calls into multiple ridings would be far more expensive, involve a more co-ordinated effort and access to the kinds of lists that only political parties compile, and require a lot of money. The going rate for live calls for political campaigns is between $30 and $35 an hour.

Elections Canada will not say if it is investigating these nuisance calls. Although several campaigns have complained to the agency about the calls, there have been no reports of investigators interviewing campaigns targeted by the harassing calls.

It's worth reading, there's a lot of specific details that are pretty interesting. It looks like different tactics in different ridings too.
posted by flex at 11:07 PM on February 24, 2012

There were a lot of people manning the phones to do this. Surely somebody will stand up and spill the beans eventually, eh?
posted by Meatbomb at 11:21 PM on February 24, 2012

RackNine linked to these conservative campaigns. I like this photo of RackNine pres, myself.

For those interested in Sona's past electoral efforts, here is a little summary of his dispute with a Guelph University polling station.

Something similar happened in my [Saanich] riding in 2008. Those calls encouraged people to vote for a candidate who withdrew. The RCMP said no laws were broken.
posted by chapps at 11:50 PM on February 24, 2012

Andrew Coyne, generally considered a Conservative (by me at least) weighs in ...

It is a party that believes it has had to fight twice as hard to get where it is, a belief that has only hardened through each of the many compromises it has made on the way. The progression is sadly familiar. Having first compromised its beliefs, a party finds it is easier to compromise its principles; having compromised its principles, it learns to compromise its ethics; and compromises of ethics, as we have seen in other parties, lead sooner or later to compromises with the law.
posted by philip-random at 12:49 AM on February 25, 2012 [2 favorites]

Andrew Coyne again this morning, speaking with forked tongue:

The Tories first came to power by defeating a Liberal Party that had members who cheated for electoral advantage and in some cases broke the law. No Conservative I know sees imitation of that approach as flattering. It still repulses them. They want to win, but through honest means and hard work.
posted by sneebler at 7:06 AM on February 25, 2012

So should a person be contacting someone in EC to encourage them to properly investigate and prosecute thus? Of all the bullshit played, subverting democracy is the shittiest, most treasonous bullshit of all. I honestly would support the death penalty for treason.

And again, the kid was a tool. Someone more connected, powerful, and official than him made this all possible. That bastard needs to fry.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:11 PM on February 25, 2012

So should a person be contacting someone in EC to encourage them to properly investigate and prosecute thus? Of all the bullshit played, subverting democracy is the shittiest, most treasonous bullshit of all.

Phire mentions the Lead Now campaign, which has a petition calling for a public inquiry. The petition is sent to party leaders and also tWilliam H. Corbett, Commissioner of Elections Canada and Bob Paulson, Commissioner of the RCMP.
posted by chapps at 11:10 AM on February 26, 2012

Global News - 'Robocalls' could lead to byelections: Senator

Ongoing investigations into fraudulent calls that allegedly harassed some voters and led others away from ballot boxes last May could cause results in several ridings to be overturned, said Liberal Senator George Baker.

"I can tell you, on the face of it, this is going to cause two or three byelections to take place," the long-time parliamentarian said during an appearance on The West Block with Tom Clark.

Baker sat as an MP for 28 years before receiving a Senate appointment in 2002.

During his time in the House of Commons, Baker sat on parliamentary legal committees that dealt with the Canada Elections Act...
posted by flex at 12:53 PM on February 26, 2012

Toronto Star: Conservative scripts misdirected voters in 2011 election, say call centre staff

Callers on behalf of the federal Conservative Party were instructed in the days before last year’s election to read scripts telling voters that Elections Canada had changed their voting locations, say telephone operators who worked for a Thunder Bay-based call centre.

These weren’t “robo-calls,” as automated pre-recorded voice messages as commonly known. They were live real-time calls made into ridings across Canada, the callers say. In a new twist on new growing allegations of political “dirty tricks,” three former employees of RMG — Responsive Marketing Group Inc.’s call centre in Thunder Bay — told the Star about the scripts...

Annette Desgagné, 46, said it became clear to her — after so many people complained that the “new” voting locations made no sense or were “way the hell across town” — that the live operators were, in fact, misdirecting voters. “We’re sending people to the wrong place,” Desgagné recalled telling her supervisor.

She said she has no way of knowing whether in fact the poll station locations she gave listeners were wrong addresses or phony locations. But she said the “feedback” elicited by the script was so negative, “we started getting antsy.” She said she and a few other workers at the call centre were perplexed enough that they began telling the voters they should double-check their poll location with their local Elections Canada office, which was not part of the script. Desgagné, alone, said some workers shortened their script — although they weren’t supposed to — and said “... I’m calling from Elections Canada ...”

Desgagné’s recollection of the job was largely corroborated by two other women contacted Sunday by the Star... The Conservative Party of Canada, in response to Star queries Sunday, did not deny its calls may have misdirected voters but portrayed these as inadvertent mistakes.

...Desgagné said she made notes around election time, thinking someone would follow up on her complaint. But she said the RCMP — she does not recall the officer’s name — told her there was nothing they could do. Nobody else followed up with her.
posted by flex at 11:59 AM on February 27, 2012 [3 favorites]

Fraudulent election phone calls raise more questions
posted by stinkycheese at 2:08 PM on February 28, 2012

Canada.com reports on a bemused Guelph restauranteur who was "fingered" by a bogus name and address on a pre-paid cell phone used to launch RackNine calls. Pierre Poutine, all eyes are on you.
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:10 AM on February 29, 2012

When I first heard about Pierre Poutine I was sure it was riffing off Prime Minister Poutine and Trudeau. Especially with the Seperatise St address.
posted by saucysault at 11:57 AM on February 29, 2012

National Post - Measuring the impact of robocalls in the 57 ridings allegedly targeted

Vancouver Sun - Opinion: The Conservative government’s legitimacy is at stake in election scandal

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s long-sought majority government rests upon 11 seats. The key to his narrow 2011 victory was Ontario, where the Conservative Party finally breached a Liberal stronghold. It was in crucial Ontario swing ridings where Conservatives won, often by razor-thin margins, that the government’s majority was decided...

A quick survey of ridings in Ontario, the vital key to the government’s slim hold on power, shows that Conservatives won eight seats by a margin of less than 1,000 votes, three by less than 300 votes...
posted by flex at 12:05 PM on February 29, 2012

macleans.ca - The Commons: The Prime Minister tries to bluster it all away
posted by flex at 12:39 PM on February 29, 2012

Yeah, there's been some Tory asshole braying on the CBC news every hour on the hour about this whole thing being whipped up by the Opposition, saying that their requests for evidence from the government mean that there is no evidence.

I have to give credit to the National Post for pushing on this. This was the last paper I would have expected to be so tenacious about the story. Sure, Ivison is playing the "stupidity, not malice" card, but the actual reporting has been decent.
posted by maudlin at 1:28 PM on February 29, 2012

Harper is shouting: I AM NOT NAKED! I AM FULLY CLOTHED! I AM THE BOSS OF YOU AND I AM FULLY CLOTHED! And all the while he's just got his hands on his wang slinging it around, flop flop flippy flop.
posted by seanmpuckett at 1:59 PM on February 29, 2012

Dude, Duuuuude. Not enough brain bleach in the world.
posted by maudlin at 2:06 PM on February 29, 2012 [3 favorites]

CBC - Election call tapes under review by Conservatives

The Conservative Party is reviewing tapes of every call made by the Responsive Marketing Group call centre in Thunder Bay, Ont., in the last election before Elections Canada investigators arrive next week, CBC News has learned. Investigators are planning to interview the centre's staff, which the Conservative Party hired to make phone calls to identify and rally supporters in the 2011 federal election.

Conservative Party spokesman Fred Delorey denied that Conservative officials are reviewing the tapes. "The Conservative Party is not reviewing tapes from the last election," he said in an email to CBC News...

...Earlier in the day, a democracy watchdog group urged MPs to demand more from Elections Canada when it comes to reporting on how the agency follows up on complaints. A spokesman for Democracy Watch says 2,300 complaints were submitted to Elections Canada between 2004 and 2011, but the agency didn't report on whether it investigated or what it found.

CBC - Misleading B.C. election call traced to Conservative Party: Woman got repeated calls for donations then was told of polling place change

Toronto Star - Veteran dirty-tricks investigator assigned to robo-calls probe

The man who led the probe of the federal Conservative “in-and-out” election advertising scheme has turned his sights on allegations of illegal vote suppression in last year’s federal campaign. The office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections has assigned veteran dirty-tricks investigator Ronald Lamothe to conduct inquiries, the Star has learned...

Toronto Star - Does Elections Canada have the clout to enforce laws?

National Post - Tory robocalls counterattack backfires as Elections Canada confirms 31,000 complaints

The Tories have been left red-faced after an attempt on Thursday to blame the Liberal party for suspicious robocalls from a U.S. call centre backfired. The embarrassing blunder comes as Elections Canada confirmed it has received 31,000 complaints from Canadians about robocalls during the election.
posted by flex at 10:18 AM on March 2, 2012

The Globe and Mail - Sloppy work by ‘Pierre Poutine’ leaves lengthy trail for robo-call sleuth

“Pierre Poutine” was not the most sophisticated scammer.

Fraudulent robo-callers usually cover their tracks, but whoever is hiding behind the now-infamous alias has left an electronic and paper trail for Elections Canada investigators to follow, all the way to a credit card used to spread false information in the last election, sources say...

Experts say dirty-trick phone calls are usually placed from U.S. call centres or sent from hard-to-trace devices, but that “Pierre Poutine” made “comical errors,” including using the same cellphone to set up a robo-call account and then list its number on the ensuing fraudulent calls...
posted by flex at 10:24 AM on March 2, 2012

Petard, met hoist.... oh my god would it not be the most delicious eventuality if there were by-elections and the fuckers lost their majority? Not only would the country be returned to sanity, the CPC would basically have to dissolve completely and reform with all new leadership before they'd ever be a danger again. We could be looking at 20+ years of good government.

oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy
posted by seanmpuckett at 10:25 AM on March 2, 2012 [3 favorites]

I'd love to see quick by-elections, but I doubt that we'll get them John Ibbitson describes what could happen in one of the affected ridings:

If there is enough evidence that enough voters were illegally deterred from voting to throw the Nipissing-Timiskaming result into question, a by-election could result that would be deeply embarrassing for the Conservatives. But how exactly does that happen? This is where circumstances favour the government.

Under the Canada Elections Act, any voter within a riding can apply for a judicial order nullifying the result of an election in that riding on the grounds of “irregularities, fraud or corrupt or illegal practices.”

In practice, no judge will entertain such a motion unless there is good evidence the irregularities could have put the outcome in doubt. Allegations involving a hundred voters won’t get very far if one side won by 10,000 votes. But Nipissing-Timiskaming was so close that it might not take much to get a judge’s attention.

An Elections Canada report alleging misdeeds in the riding would be the most credible evidence of potential fraud. But the Commissioner of Canada Elections typically makes no declaration about a riding unless and until it agrees with the Office of the Public Prosecutor to lay a charge. That might not happen for many months, if ever.

If there was sufficient evidence of wrongdoing in Nipissing–Timiskaming to bring that 18-vote plurality into doubt, a judge could nullify the election, which would force a by-election. But before that happened, either side could appeal the decision directly to the Supreme Court.

In other words, even if there was hanky-panky in the riding so serious that it warranted a by-election, if could take years before that by-election was called. It might even be overtaken by a general election.

No wonder the Conservatives are hunkering down on this one. Unless clear evidence emerges of wrongdoing, time and the law are on their side.

posted by maudlin at 11:00 AM on March 2, 2012

The National Post has reported that 31,000 complaints have been filed and Roger Ebert of all people tweeted about the story, saying he expected it to break in the US media by tomorrow.

My question is - if this makes international news, how on earth can Harper be taken seriously when dealing with other countries? Do we need some sort of Canuck spring type movement?
posted by peppermind at 5:39 PM on March 2, 2012 [3 favorites]

Oh, this just gets better and better.
posted by stinkycheese at 11:57 PM on March 2, 2012

But, maudlin, even with the Tories dragging their heels and fighting it all the way to the Supreme Court to the point the next general election comes along, this would still be a anchor around the party's neck every day from now through 2015. Harper is -- or at least appears-- fanatical about controlling the message. I dunno that he wants to be controlled by one for the next three years.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:52 PM on March 4, 2012

Anchor, for sure. With this scandal, plus the way they had to retreat after Bill C-30 blew up, they're stumbling almost as badly as the Republicans right now.

But voters have repeatedly shown a tendency to forgive a party that appeals to their need to feel protected, and will often choose confident/bullying but wrong over measured/cautious and right. The Tories have been given way too much credit for Canada's relatively decent weathering of the recession (so far), and given that I'm hearing from suburban friends that this scandal isn't really a scandal ("Why didn't everyone complain earlier?"), I'm not too optimistic that this, THIS will surely ... etc.
posted by maudlin at 8:08 PM on March 4, 2012

It's early days, and this could yet change, but at least one recent poll suggests that the Tories aren't seeing any visible loss of support yet. The poll was taken between February 25 and 29 (which leaves out the developments of the past few days, I know), so the next set of polls could show an effect.

A month of controversy over pensions, privacy and Pierre Poutine has failed to dent support for the Conservative Party, according to a new poll by Nanos Research.

Support for the Tories remained exactly the same – at 35.7 per cent – compared to a month earlier. Support for the Liberals climbed slightly to 29.5 per cent from 27.6 per cent, while the NDP’s numbers were essentially unchanged at 25 per cent.

The survey found jobs and the economy now dominate as the top issue of concern for Canadians, which pollster Nik Nanos said may explain why voters are largely unmoved by the daily furor in the House of Commons. ...

The Nanos survey was also conducted shortly after Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae apologized for the fact that a Liberal staffer was behind an anonymous Twitter account called Vikileaks30 that posted personal information about Public Safety Minister Vic Toews. The account claimed to be set up to protest against Bill C-30, which would expand police surveillance powers over the Internet.

Mr. Nanos said the Vikileaks story likely reinforced the cynicism among voters that no party is above dirty tricks.

“I think for many average Canadians who are very cynical, they find it hard to believe that politics of any colour is ethical,” he said. “The unfortunate timing of the Vikileaks thing for the Liberals basically illustrated the point that, you know what, there are rogue elements in parties that do things that are inappropriate and unsavory. The thing is that on the robo-call affair, and when we look at politics, I’m not sure that there’s any moral high ground that any of the parties can claim.”

I think the last sentence by Nanos is full of shit -- these are not equivalent issues -- but a lot of people probably do think that way.
posted by maudlin at 9:43 PM on March 4, 2012 [1 favorite]

CBC today is covering new allegations in the Eglinton-Lawrence riding in Toronto. Incumbent Liberal Joe Volpe lost to a Tory by 4000 votes. There were several thousand unregistered voters who filled out late registry forms -- at least 2700 so far -- many lacking the required address or bearing fake addresses.

In related news, Mr Harper said yesterday he is "not opposed at all" to an NDP motion to grant Elections Canada greater investigative powers. He said the Tories would back the motion (being debated today) but he refused to say whether or not the government would comply with it. Ah.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:34 AM on March 8, 2012

more allegations

"The conversation that followed was deeply disturbing to Fryer. In a question and answer session, attendees discussed voter suppression tactics. They talked about posing as a member of another party, and about making rude calls at inconvenient times as a strategy to get the supporter of another party to not go out and vote for their candidate. The instructors detailed different kinds of suppression calls, and how these tactics are borrowed from the U.S. Republican Party."
posted by davidpriest.ca at 9:14 AM on March 8, 2012

Yet more.
posted by davidpriest.ca at 3:04 PM on March 8, 2012

Possible breaking news.

Interestingly, a red-goateed man makes an appearance in both this and the previous story.
posted by davidpriest.ca at 9:01 PM on March 8, 2012 [1 favorite]

Um, closing tag? Can we get a closing tag in here?

</a>

Thanks, pal!
posted by davidpriest.ca at 9:21 PM on March 8, 2012