May calls for new investigation of 2011 robocalls
Cites two judges’ conclusions that Tory database was the likely source
Green Party leader Elizabeth May has asked the Commissioner of Canada Elections to reopen his investigation into 2011 election robocalls based on two related court decisions that found the Conservative Party’s voter-tracking database was likely the source of misleading calls.
May wrote to Commissioner Yves Côté on Thursday to make a formal complaint about what she alleges is “widespread, co-ordinated voter fraud in at least eight electoral districts during the 2011 election.”
The request comes as Côté’s office says it is no longer investigating the robocalls case after former Conservative Party campaign worker Michael Sona was last week sentenced to nine months in jail for his role in the robocalls sent to more than 7,000 voters in Guelph, Ont. The office said it could not investigate unless it received a complaint based on new information.
Sona, whose lawyer is planning to launch an appeal of his convic- tion and sentence, is being held at Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton, Ont. He released a statement through a friend stating that he had “no involvement” in the calls, and doesn’t know who did.
Ottawa lawyer Howard Krongold filed a notice of appeal on Tuesday, stating he intends to appeal both the verdict and the sentence.
Côté had previously reported that he could find no evidence of a wider scheme to send misdirecting calls to voters in ridings other than Guelph, though critics noted that the investigation was based on only a small fraction of complaints for which Côté’s investigators could trace telephone records.
In her letter to Côté, May refers to judgments in the Sona case as well as the judgment issued in 2013 in a Federal Court legal challenge of election results in six ridings, which was backed by the Council of Canadians, a left-leaning publicinterest group.
In those cases, Judge Richard Mosley found insufficient evidence to overturn the election results in the ridings but did find a “concerted campaign by persons who had access to a database of voter information maintained by a political party.”
In the Guelph case, Judge Gary Hearn found Sona had been involved in the automated calls arranged using the pseudonym “Pierre Poutine,” but also said it was likely others were involved.
Hearn also said it appeared the list of identified non-Conservatives supporters came from the Conservative Party’s Constituent Information Management System.
Hearn didn’t say who else he thought was involved, but pointed to evidence related to Guelph Conservative campaign manager Ken Morgan, who has moved to Kuwait, and deputy campaign manager Andrew Prescott, who was given immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony against Sona.
“The fact that two different judges agreed that the likely source of the phone calls was the Conservative Party database, it’s rather stunning,” May said at a press conference Thursday.
May said she had personally complained about robocalls into her British Columbia riding in 2011 but was never contacted by Elections Canada.
“If the Commissioner of Canada Elections is prepared to ignore the findings of two judges, I think that will speak very poorly of the powers of investigations we have in this country to explore electoral fraud.”
Côté has not yet responded to May’s complaint.