Dirty tricks claimed in Hull-Aylmer
It’s an endgame allegation of electoral dirty tricks that seems destined to dishearten the voting public regardless of whether it turns out to be true or not.
According to the New Democratic Party, as part of a concerted effort to unseat Hull-Aylmer incumbent Nycole Turmel, local Liberals have reportedly been leading voters to believe — wrongly — that the NDP whip is “terminally ill and on the verge of dying.”
The details of the charge are spelled out in a complaint filed with Elections Canada on Monday.
It states that “on numerous occasions, Liberal campaign members from several Liberal campaigns (including Liberal candidates) have falsely stated that the NDP candidate and incumbent MP, Nycole Turmel, is terminally ill and on the verge of dying.”
In fact, it notes, Turmel “is in fine health and expects to be alive and well for many more elections,” and “contrary to the Liberals’ false reports,” is “fully ambulatory”: she can walk and “most certainly is not bed-ridden.”
And as the “intentional and numerous repetition of these false statements are clearly aimed at affecting the results of the election,” the NDP believes it could constitute a violation of the federal election law that prohibits knowingly making or publishing “a false statement of fact in relation to the personal character or conduct of a candidate or prospective candidate,” or the withdrawal of a candidate.
Although it describes the tactic as “widespread,” the complaint details four specific instances of such false statements allegedly being made during the past three months, starting on or around Aug. 13, when canvassers for Hull-Aylmer Liberal candidate Greg Fergus reportedly told Mélisa Ferreira — who is listed as the contact for the Turmel campaign — that Turmel “was really sick.” And just last week, during a meet-and-greet at Fergus’s campaign office, the NDP alleges that a community organizer named Larry Prickett was reportedly told by Fergus’s assistant that Turmel was “extremely ill.”
In an email to the Ottawa Citizen, Fergus said Turmel’s campaign manager first raised concerns over the alleged comments last month.
“As I said to her then, I’ll say again: this is not the way my campaign is run.”
He asked her to provide “specific information” so he could track down the campaign worker who allegedly made such statements.
“No one from the Turmel campaign contacted me or my campaign since on this matter,” he noted.
While he confirms that he hosted a meet-and-greet at his campaign office on Oct. 8, he says there was no discussion of Turmel’s health.
“I explained to people why I was running, what my party and I stand for, and answered questions from the public,” he recalled.
“This matter never came up in a question to me and certainly not in a response!”
Since his campaign began in March, Fergus has emphasized to all volunteers “the importance of running a positive and courteous campaign” — as, he adds, “our leader has done.”
The allegation “is a likely result of a faltering NDP campaign in Hull-Aylmer,” he concluded. “My campaign and I would never discredit an opponent on the basis of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, fitness or health.”
Fergus isn’t the only Liberal candidate named in the complaint.
The NDP claims that on or around Sept. 11, William Amos — who is the Liberal candidate in the nearby riding of Pontiac — “falsely advised” Gatineau resident Marie Dumesnil-Renaud, who is listed as a staffer at Turmel’s constituency office, that the NDP incumbent “is extremely ill,” a charge adamantly denied by Amos’s campaign spokesman, Marcel Chartrand.
“It’s totally and utterly false,” he told the Ottawa Citizen.
“It’s very disturbing to hear something like this at the end of a campaign. We’re not sure where this is coming from; we’ve not seen any allegations of that sort. As far as we’re concerned, it’s totally made up.”
Amos is “certainly not that type of guy,” he added. “He’s run a very positive campaign.”
Amos has also had virtually no interaction with Turmel outside of one regional debate in Aylmer, when relations between the two were “very cordial,” Chartrand said.
He also questions the time lapse between the alleged comment and the complaint.
“(Sept. 11 was) a month ago, and it surfaces now? You have to be suspicious.”
The complaint also states that on Sept. 3, the Liberal regional party director, who is not named, “personally and falsely told” Gatineau real estate agent Michel Noreau that Turmel “was extremely ill and in such poor health that she could not even walk.”
Noreau did not respond to a request for comment.
It will be up to Canada’s independent elections commissioner to decide whether to launch an investigation into the allegations. But, no matter which party you believe, it’s difficult to imagine any eventual finding of fact that wouldn’t cast a shadow over the Hull-Aylmer hustings, even after the ballots have been counted.
Stephen Harper will not be prime minister even if he finishes with the most seats in a minority Parliament.
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