Despite audio evidence of widespread illegal robocalls, the Commissioner of Elections Canada has announced “no offenses committed”!
https://twitter.com/muddywolfking/status/459340024870236162
Canadians have had a heaping helping of obvious crime going unpunished, where Conservatives are the apparent benefactors.
I sadly predicted this ludicrous situation with a satirical piece I wrote last year that many people mistook for reality.
https://twitter.com/saskboy/status/459342385567133696
https://twitter.com/MichaelSona/status/459341925045112832
Among the bewildering improbable findings by the Commish are this:
“It is useful to note, moreover, that the data gathered in the investigation does not lend support to the existence of a conspiracy or conspiracies to interfere with the voting process (see, for example, sections 1.3 and 4.3).”
A Federal Court Judge ruled the opposite! He found fraud was likely in multiple ridings, which as we know from the highly “secure” CIMS database, requires CPC HQ authorization to be available in multiple ridings. Local staff do not have access to riding information elsewhere in the country, so there would have to be a conspiracy for identical fraud to be happening in more than one riding, as the Federal Court ruled.
Also this from Andrew Coyne:
Someone, that is, committed massive electoral fraud, in a way that could only benefit the Conservative party and making use of proprietary party information. But they did it without the party’s knowledge or participation.
Or what else can one conclude from Thursday’s ruling by Federal Court Judge Richard Mosley
Apparently Elections Canada can conclude what they did after 2008’s malicious robocalls in the S-GI riding of B.C., and drop the whole thing because investigations are harrrrd.
“it is clear that the current elector discontent about political calling arose in large part from the decision made by a number of national and local campaigns to provide electors with information on their specific poll locations during get-out-the-vote (GOTV) calls.”
… despite ordering national campaigns not to do that.
A CPC RMG employee swore to the court that she’d made such phonecalls on behalf of the Conservative Party of Canada. To my knowledge, she has not faced perjury charges, even years later. Neither have the Conservatives been charged for these misleading calls that Elections Canada ordered the party not to conduct.
“The investigation was extensive, but certain factual elements could not be uncovered. In some cases, investigators were able to confirm that complainants received a political call but found no additional evidence of its content. In most cases, no evidence was found to confirm whether or not a complainant was called.”
How extensive could it have been? We’ve learned through Snowden that the NSA, a partner to the CSEC in Canada, records “metadata” of all phonecalls made. How could there be NO EVIDENCE to confirm a call was made to a complainant? Do phone companies and CSEC not actually have records???
Also, in part because the widespread fraud calls have no recordings available for Elections Canada to present to court, they’re not willing to use phone records [they can’t find?] and witness testimony as to the call contents, to press charges against those who made the illegal phonecalls! This is so bloody outrageous! The incompetence at Elections Canada and agencies supporting it during the investigation leaves big questions unanswered.
Charron and Cote are apparently professional, well-written idiots!
“Doug Rutherford @dougrutherford:
Yet robocall services allow you to select a displayed number when the calls are placed. The “calling” number has no bearing. That the EC’s office doesn’t know that makes me wonder if they are actually capable of conducting such an investigation.”
Their announcement today makes it obvious they were not capable, and now justice goes unserved, unless Canadians protest this breach of justice effectively.
ADDED: Take a look at Alison’s summary of today’s shameful report from EC.
Saskboy's Abandoned Stuff 
Regardless of whether there was or wasn’t illegal activity associated with the last election, and regardless of who may or may not have perpetrated it…….any voter who was sent to the wrong place to vote based on an anonymous phone call, and who wasn’t smart enough to figure out where the correct location was; is not anyone I want deciding on who is going to run this country. We’ve read and heard volumes about this issue for the past number of years, and I’ve always thought it was insulting for the media to characterize voters to be as stupid as you would need to be, in order for a phone call to totally screw up you ability to cast your vote. Seriously!!!!
That’s a despicable view Liam. If your party’s leader is sincere about wanting a Victim’s Bill of Rights, perhaps first on the list of rights ought to be that they aren’t called “stupid” for being victims of fraud.
Well I’m sorry John, but I don’t know any other word to use for someone who can’t manage to find information on where to cast their vote…even if they did show up at some incorrect location expecting to find a ballot box, and discovering they are in the wrong place. How the hell do people like that even get out of their own houses? Personally, I don’t think too many people exist which would fit this description, but if they do, “stupid” is just about the kindest moniker I can think of to stick them with. This whole robocall “scandal” has been pure unadulterated BS right from the get-go. Finally, it is over. And it IS over, no matter how much folks with your perspective wish it weren’t. There was no “fraud” here either. Just a hope, wish, and a prayer for it to exist, from folks who were not happy with the results of the last election. You can’t create a “scandal” where none exists.
There’s little more scandalous in a democracy than election fraud, since the system depends upon elections being legitimate.
There’s little worse in a democratic country than someone who overlooks this point until their freedoms and fair elections are totally destroyed through apathy.
Awwww……..so sorry Mr. McGregor. Waferrobbocallgate didn’t pan out. :D :D :D
It’s not over Goran. For one thing, the story McGregor and Maher broke was primarily about Guelph and this guy:
The widespread nature of the conspiracy was revealed when Canadians responded to the story in Guelph getting more focus.
No, its over, just as it was over when this “story” broke”. It didn’t stick then, it doesn’t stick now, it won’t stick ever, as much as you fervently hope it won’t be, this is done Full stop.
There is a charge against a Conservative campaign worker in Guelph coming to court this Summer. Your perspective is willful blindness.
“There’s little more scandalous in a democracy than election fraud, since the system depends upon elections being legitimate.”
I totally agree John. Luckily for us, we didn’t experience any fraud, and our election was legitimate. Yay Canada.
Amen brother. Let’s hope we’ve heard the end of it!
I shouldn’t have to repeat this, but I will.
There is a charge against a Conservative campaign worker in Guelph coming to court this Summer. Your perspective is willful blindness.
And your perspective has a child-like naivety that still amuses me even after all this time. Over two years ago I told you that this ‘scandal’ would go exactly nowhere…and even I told you why, didn’t I? Did you even stop to consider what I (and others) told you? Did you check it out for yourself? No, you did nothing but post near-hysterical rants here OVER and OVER again about “the worst election fraud in Canadian history!” (oh, please…politicians used to overtly bribe people with cash right outside the polling stations) and “the death of our democracy” (heh) and yes, calls to actually NULLIFY the last election (!), even though every agency involved had said almost immediately that “no election outcomes were changed”. Not good enough for you, right John?
This is what happens when you are so intellectually lazy (…or dishonest? Or just incapable?) that you allow your ideology to form your arguments. You lose, and you embarrass yourself at the same time. We tried to tell you, really…but you just wouldn’t hear it.
Fred, while you’re busy gloating about Conservatives getting away with election fraud, adults are actually concerned about the state of democracy in our country.
You compare this crime to handing out cash at the polls, yet in another breath you say it’s no big deal. I suppose we could conclude that you think handing people cash is a-okay. Oh wait, we know you think that, because you also think Wright’s bribe to Duffy was no problem.
Excellent post. Thank you.
So … legal to bribe sitting senators, legal to “misdirect electors”
Awesome.
Marty Burke and his gang of fanatics were a bad bunch. So much so that I headed directly to the EC office for the advance poll.
The students are going to be much better informed next time and will make a huge difference.
Wait for June 2!
June 2012: Elections Canada robocalls probe taken over by ‘low-key’ bureaucrat Yves Côté
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/06/21/elections-canada-robocalls-probe-taken-over-by-low-key-bureaucrat-yves-cote/
“Given that Côté was unwilling to make waves during the tumultuous period in which he served as the CF ombudsman, it is unlikely he would be willing to swim upstream against the political current in his present post…”
He lived up to that prediction.
Cote replaced Corbett who “led the five-year investigation into the “in and out” money laundering scandal, the Conservative Party’s scheme to shuffle the costs of $1.3 million in radio and TV ads between its national campaign and local candidate campaigns to avoid spending caps in the 2006 campaign.
Four Conservative party officials, including senators Doug Finley and Irving Gerstein, were charged in the case, but those charges were dropped when the party pleaded guilty and paid $52,000 in fines.
At the time of Côté’s appointment, Corbett’s staff were also investigating allegations of election financial impropriety in the 2008 election by Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro, the prime minister’s parliamentary secretary and member of the House of Commons ethics committee.”
I notice a lot of cretinous harpercon trolls here. I started reading what “Moron from BC” typed, but gave up in disgust. You can bet that if the Liberals had done this they’d be screaming blue murder.
Hypocritical fools.
[ADMIN note: WARNING: Watching this will make you less informed.]
sunnewsnetwork. ca/video/3507874962001
BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh yeah…………..and BAM!!!!
http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/the-robocall-conspiracy/3504392446001
I don’t waste my time checking out links to STUN News. At some point you people have to get a sense of what total idiots you all are.
Only then will we be able to have a dialogue.
Blah blah Stun News, Blah blah CONservatives, Blah blah Harpercons. Blah blah Harperbushchimpohitler. Body bags, communion wafers, Harper shakes his son’s hand, Olympic logos, Robocalls. And on and on and ON. So utterly tiresome. “Total Idiots?” Take a long look in the mirror.
So in other words, you cannot refute the truth that was stated in those links. Of course you have no interest in even trying because you’ll find that the truth doesn’t fit your side’s particular narrative in this case; it is simply too inconvenient. To Harper Haters Derangement Syndrome sufferers like you, THAT is why dialogue isn’t possible with you. You were wrong, you failed massively , you LOST………but that doesn’t matter because Harper is evil incarnate, the spawn of Satan, and you won’t rest until he is brought to heel. On to the next “scandal”. Forward!
Stop whining. Seriously. I didn’t even click on those links you half-wit. I tried to explain it to you as clearly as I can that some sources of opinion are too deluded and useless for normal, sane people to be bothered with.
Here’s some facts that YOU idiots can’t construct a coherent narrative for: There were THOUSANDS of complaints about misleading phone calls in HUNDREDS of ridings. Not just mis-directions to polling sites, but imposters claiming to be from the Conservative Party’s rivals, harassing and insulting citizens.
It was found that the Conservative Party’s CIMS database was being used to focus these calls. In the case of Guelph, Conservative Party campaign worker Michael Sona was clearly involved as was the computer (at least) of Conservative supporter Andrew Prescott.
The Conservative Party of Canada seemed curiously uninterested in finding out who else had stolen and was misusing their database. Despite claims that they were cooperating with the Elections Canada investigation, it appears they were doing anything but; cancelling meetings, refusing to give evidence. When the Council of Canadians fought their lawsuit to have election results overturned due to fraud (the source of the fraud not being important) the Conservative Party fought tooth and nail to have any discussion about whether fraud even occurred. (Strange behaviour for a party that should be outraged by the idea of nefarious outsiders stealing their proprietary software and using it to debase our electoral process.)
Those are the facts. Those are the facts that you anti-democratic scum have used stonewalling and corruption to avoid having to account for. And then you presume to throw some STUN News links my way, as if I have time to listen to their deluded hypocritical ravings?To hell with you. If I had my way, there would be a reckoning in this country and garbage such as you and the Conservative Party of Canada would be destroyed as a viable political option. Which is to say; your party leadership would be in prison for election fraud and any other crimes they’ve committed. The Party itself would be bankrupted by fines and lawsuits. And losers such as yourself would be reduced to isolated pockets of discredited, despised hypocritical morons.
Well explained.
#DontLookAtTheSun, like Fox News, it’ll make you sound like dumb people.
What is truly more sickening than the powerful political thugs that got away with this are those trolls you’ve attracted here John who seem to think it’s all ok. But then again, they’re directly responsible for this mess electing these dregs. A truly flawed process to exonerate the con-men who orchestrated this scam and people still fall for it. Very sad. The comment Goran made about facts and truth is rich, considering our country is currently being run by a bunch who ignore both.
Democracies don’t fall without the hard work from apathetic and power hungry a-holes who’ll vote for authoritarians.
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