Robocalls after the hype.

It appears today that The Chief Electoral Officer from Elections Canada has made a statement on the issue. Here is the letter from Him: CBC Chief Electoral Officers statement. 


So it turns out that crack investigative Journalists who broke this "greatest election fraud in history" story; "Robocalls probe centres on disposable 'burner' cellphone linked to black ops in Guelph riding." May have jumped the gun. 


As it turns out, The Elections Canada Chief Electoral Officer said "Immediately following the 2011 general election, the Commissioner of Canada Elections deployed resources to investigate complaints of fraudulent or improper calls. Since then, over 700 Canadians from across the country have informed us of specific circumstances where they believe similar wrongdoing took place".  This is a far cry from the media hyped number of 31000 which was solicited by The Globe and Mail, and Lead now's website.


Apparently even 700 calls is too many for some people like CBC's Kady O'Malley, but at the same time for others it is smack in the middle of the average.

H/T Stephen Taylor














I did a little quick math after this broke this afternoon, where I calculated the difference and the results.
31000 (Lead now is now claiming over 41000) - 700 = 30300 ROBOSPAM.
700 robocalls at lets say .05 cents (double the bulk as I couldn't find an actual cost, except for HERE. Racknine's site did not seem to have the available info HERE.) would run $35.  Not 3500, just THIRTY FIVE DOLLARS.  Even if it was $100 this could EASILY have been a rogue individual, who could have done it for ANY reason! As opposed to claims of the "Anonymous" source by Glen McGregor and Stephen Maher in this article; "Unlikely a Tory staffer could have acted alone in Pierre Poutine scam: source"


That's what broke today.

How Robocalls play out in the HOC.

I was thinking about how the robocall affair has been playing out in the house of commons this morning.  I find the narrative goes something like this:

Oppositions; "AHA GOTCHA!!"
Government; "Got us doing what, when, where?"
Oppositions; "You tell us!!"
Government; "Well we know that Frank Valeriote broke Election Canada rules, and how about Adam Carroll, will the Parliamentary hearings ever get to interview him?"
Oppositions; "BUT, BUT YOU ARE EVIL CONSERVATIVES!!!

It appears though that illegal tactics are not limited to the "Evil Conservatives", as has been shown by Vikileaks, and admissions of guilt by Frank Valeriote and Bob Rae themselves about robocalls in Guelph.
Now we find out that there may be illegal activities on the part of the NDP in an ethnic riding in Toronto. The CBC tells how both Conservative and Liberal complaints have been "brushed off" by Elections Canada, who should now find themselves under investigations of impropriety. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/03/13/voting-scarborough.html?cmp=rss

H/T Stephen Taylor for coming up with what may be the source of the 31000 complaints to Elections Canada.

Here is a copy of the complete text that would be sent to (as of Mar 2, 2012):
Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada
William H. Corbett, Commissioner of Elections Canada
Bob Paulson, Commissioner of the RCMP
Nycole Turmel, Leader, New Democratic Party
Bob Rae, Leader, Liberal Party
Louis Plamondon, Parliamentary Leader, Bloc Québécois
Elizabeth May, Leader, Green Party

" Dear Prime Minister Harper, Mr Corbett, Mr Paulson, Ms Turmel, Mr Rae, Ms. May and Mr. Plamondon,

I am gravely concerned by the Elections Canada report that has just traced illegal phone calls made during the 2011 federal election to a company that worked for the Conservative Party across the country.

The “robocalls” were apparently designed to stop non-Conservative voters from casting ballots in key ridings by falsely telling voters that the location of their polling stations had changed, causing them to go to the wrong location on election day.

This news casts doubt on the legitimacy of our Government. We need answers now, and real consequences for illegal behaviour that may have determined the outcome of our election.

I demand a full and independent public inquiry, backed by Elections Canada and the RCMP, to expose the facts about the robocall scandal and ensure that the penalty for this election fraud matches the consequences of the crime - including new elections.

We cannot allow individuals to be scapegoated for actions that benefit institutions. We need to lay the foundation for new laws to restore the integrity of Canadian elections."
Found at Lead Now.

Once again I'll say it looks like this is a ploy by the disgruntled opposition parties to try and gain a "Mulligan" (do over) because they just can't stand the thought of a Conservative Government.

Robocalls part ?

As the robocalls "scandal" continues, I decided to add my 2 "non-cents" to the mix. Now although I did receive robocalls during the 2011 Federal election, I have no recollection of what was said, as I'm sure most of the 31000 new complaints don't.  But I sent an obviously phoney complaint to the "paper" soliciting them, in attempt to show them the ridiculous effort they are attempting.

I also noticed the way this "paper" is leading people to submit these complaints quickly, or the nasty Conservatives will "get away with it".

With such an obvious Left bias, I have a hard time calling this anything close to "news".  The Globe and Mail called me soliciting a subscription just a few days ago, and ovbiously my response was "Not friggin likely!"