Stop the Hogs!

ROBOCALL ELECTION FRAUD! DEMAND A PUBLIC INQUIRY!

Send a message to all the party leaders and your MP demanding a full public inquiry and real consequences for election fraud

http://www.leadnow.ca/robocall-fraud

PLEASE: Send to all of your contacts far and wide!

- - - - -

MAY: We need answers and real consequences for Robo-Call election fraud

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: We need answers and real consequences for Robo-Call election fraud
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2012 09:17:55 -0500
From: <Elizabeth.May@parl.gc.ca>

Thank you for your email expressing concerns about the recent Elections Canada report. This report, describing the use of illegal “robo-calls” during last federal election, has traced these calls back to a company that worked for the Conservative Party.

This extremely worrisome development is an attack upon our cherished democratic institutions and demands an immediate response. There must be a complete investigation to determine those who are responsible. Individuals or organizations who have conducted such egregious actions need to face jail time. Additionally, financial rebates for those specific elections must be cancelled and returned to Elections Canada. (Political parties who obtain a certain percentage of the vote in a riding can receive up to 60% of their expenses refunded via Elections Canada, and 50% nationally. Combined, this amounts to tens of millions of dollars for the Conservative Party.) Only through such strong measures will we create a meaningful deterrent to these actions.

The Conservative government has made continuous efforts to target MPs and opposition parties with unscrupulous tactics as a strategy to gain more voter support. Like you, I believe this is a disturbing trend that is driving Canadians away from the political process, and have condemned this in the House of Commons on November 22nd:

http://elizabethmaymp.ca/parliament/
points-of-order/2011/11/22/telephone-calls-to-mount-royal-constituents

For more information on my experience and thoughts on this issue, I urge you to read my book Losing Confidence: Power, Politics, and the Crisis in Canadian Democracy. In this book, I focus on the changes occurring in Canadian democracy such as the use of attack ads and muzzling of scientists.

Thank you for taking the time to write to me. You are exercising your democratic rights, and I am thankful that you’re doing so. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any other questions or concerns, and I would encourage you to consult my MP website and peruse Vision Green, available online at
http://elizabethmaymp.ca/vision-green.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth May, O.C., M.P.
Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands
Leader of the Green Party of Canada

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Democrats on Fraudulent Election Calls

----- Original Message -----
From: <Nycole.Turmel@parl.gc.ca>
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2012 3:14 PM
Subject: New Democrats on Fraudulent Election Calls

Thank you for writing. Please be assured that New Democrats share your grave concerns regarding the fraudulent calls made during the 2011 federal election - these dirty tricks have no place in Canadian politics.

As this story unfolds, the growing number of Ridings reporting voter interference shows how wide-spread this action was to disrupt Canadians from exercising their right to vote. Voter suppression is an unacceptable practice that violates sections of the Elections Canada Act and people or parties responsible for these dirty tricks need to be to held to account and charged accordingly.

It is very troubling that the illegal calls have been traced back to RackNine and Responsive Marketing Group (RMG) - companies that worked with the Conservative national campaign and multiple Conservative candidates. It cannot be ignored that these calls were made to voters in NDP and Liberal swing ridings.

I am pleased to report that New Democrat MPs Alexandre Boulerice and Charlie Angus have acted quickly and written directly to the Commissioner of Canada Elections calling for a full investigation. In the letter they emphasize that: "Canadians deserve assurance that their democratic institutions will be protected and those that violate the rules are prosecuted to the full extent of the law. If there is anything Parliament can do to help your investigation, you will have the support of the Official Opposition."

Read more here:

http://www.ndp.ca/press/
rcmp-elections-commish-must-find-charge-those-responsible;

http://www.ndp.ca/press/
dear-conservatives-please-explain-those-misleading-phone-calls-again;

http://www.ndp.ca/press/
ndp-write-to-elections-commish-with-new-info-on-vote-suppression.

Again, thank you for writing. Please be assured that New Democrats will continue to speak out on this matter.

Best regards,

Nycole Turmel, M.P.
Interim Leader of the Official Opposition
New Democratic Party of Canada

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SHIELDS: Election Fraud

----- Original Message -----
From: Stewart Shields
To: Peter - M.P. Julian ; Rae.B@parl.gc.ca
Cc: Alberta Activism ; Alta ; Alberta NDP ; Andrew Nikiforuk ; Canada's Canada ; New Democrats
Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2012 12:51 PM
Subject: Election Fraud

On election day I was outraged at Steven Harper’s behaviour on the Rutherford Show, a talk show, headquartered out of Calgary Alberta. Never had I heard or seen a more ignorant or defiant abuse of section 323 of the election act by any politician, and certainly never by a Prime Minister of Canada. This was no Tory staffer in some far-off local jurisdiction---this was the Prime Minister of Canada. The Corus radio station should be asked to make available a clip of the tape ----all Canadians deserve the abilities to hear our Prime Minister rant against both the Liberal and especially the NDP on election day!!

I reported the incident to the Commissioner of Elections---257 Slater St. Ottawa Ontario. KlA OM6 and received pure nonsense for my efforts!! I must repeat ---this outrage was conducted by the Prime Minister of Canada---no-one else, who thought he was safe in the sanctums of Tory Alberta.

I reviewed the Rutherford sign-off at noon April 29th, 2011 with respect to what would be tolerated on election day, with respect to election talk. Then I replayed the Rutherford Show I believe from 11:30 to noon election day before making my complaint to the commissioners office. The wrapping is surely coming off this scary Prime Minister who is far more a Reform Party prime minister than anything we could possibly imagine as Conservative!! I believe both the Commissioner of Elections, and Harper’s behaviours need special scrutiny in the face of what took place on the May 2nd, 2011 election without any sort of reprimand !!

A public inquiry—damn right!!

Stewart Shields
84 Hathaway Lane
Lacombe, Alberta T4L1T4
403-782-1437

- - - - -

Tories want answers on voter suppression too

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/pol ... d-reading/
silver-powers/tories-want-answers-on-voter-suppression-too/article2349972/

tim powers Globe and Mail Update Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2012 9:27AM EST

In the opposition’s hysteria around the robo-call controversy you'd think every MP, staffer, member of the party, supporter and Conservative voter has a cultural predisposition to win elections at any cost and through any means. You'd also assume that before Elections Canada has even concluded its investigation, never mind charged anyone, the Conservative Party itself is guilty of the most serious infractions possible and has perverted our democratic system beyond compare.

More related to this storyTory staffer leaves MP’s office in wake of voter-suppression probe

Harper denies knowledge of ‘black ops’ phone calls during 2011 election

Elections Canada on misleading Tory call: ‘Inaccuracies can occur’

MORE:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/
politics/second-reading/silver-powers/tories-want-answers-on-voter-suppression-too/article2349972/

ACTION ALERT: Demand a public inquiry into the 'robocall election fraud'

----- Original Message -----
From: Brent Patterson
Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2012 9:01 PM
Subject: [ACTIVlist] ACTION ALERT: Demand a public inquiry into the 'robocall election fraud'

It has been alleged that at least 34 ridings received illegal voter-suppression calls - advising them that their voting station had changed - during the last federal election. The total number is expected to grow on Monday. NDP MP Pat Martin says at least 34 ridings received the calls, while Liberal leader Bob Rae says he knows of 27 ridings. Originally it had been thought that 14 ridings had been affected.

The Harper Conservatives hold 166 seats in the House of Commons, 11 seats above the 155-seat requirement to form a majority government. Rabble.ca has pointed out that, "6,201 is the combined margin of victory across the 14 most closely contested Conservative ridings in Canada, with 6,215 being the number needed by the nearest parties in the race to have won these seats by one vote."

The National Post reports, "Liberal supporters say the repeated calls usually came during dinner, late at night or early in the morning from people claiming to represent the local Liberal candidate. Calls also were placed to voters with Jewish-sounding names during the Saturday Sabbath and in one riding with a South Asian candidate, voters received phone calls from someone imitating a Pakistani accent."

"Under the Elections Act, it is illegal to tell voters to go to a wrong or non-existent polling station. ...NDP leader Nycole Turmel (has) urged for a thorough investigation by the RCMP and Elections Canada. ...Rae says the (Liberal) party is considering calling for a number of byelections or even pursing legal action. ...On Friday, Rae sent a letter to House of Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer, asking him to allow an emergency debate on the matter when Parliament resumes Monday."

To send a message to Bob Paulson, Commissioner of the RCMP; William H. Corbett, Commissioner of Elections Canada; and the party leaders, you can go to http://www.leadnow.ca/robocall-fraud. The message you can send says, "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 possible by-elections in the affected ridings."

At this hour (Sunday night, 9:52 pm ET), 14,679 messages have been sent with this demand.

Ex-Conservative has warning

http://www.thestar.com/Opinion/Letters/article/1137705

Published On Mon Feb 27 2012

A few months ago I was a card carrying Conservative, serving as a director on both the Guelph and Kitchener-Center Conservative electoral district association boards. I succeeded Michael Sona as president of the University of Guelph Campus Conservatives and I can tell you I deeply regret all the work I have done for the Conservative Party of Canada.
They have gone against Canadian values and have made a joke out of our democracy. I believed I was working for a cause to bring greater accountability, transparency and respect for the taxpayer; the result was just the opposite.

Canada is a great nation, built by a people who value hard work, taking responsibility for one’s actions and above all honesty. The government that sits in Ottawa values only power and cannibalizes its own in order to save face.

As someone who has seen what is talked about in the party, I can only say God help Canada in the next four years. Because it won’t be the country that veterans, like my grandfather fought so hard to protect.

Victor Pocaterra, Kitchener

= = = = = =

Council of Canadians Today's developments on the 'robocall' scandal

http://canadians.org/blog/?p=13780

Feb. 27, 2012

CTV reports on today's developments on the growing 'robocall' scandal.


RCMP and Elections Canada investigations

"The RCMP and Elections Canada are looking into reports that automated calls were made in as many as 18 ridings. ...The RCMP has executed a search warrant at the offices of an Edmonton-based call firm hired by the Conservative Party in the last federal election, as police investigate allegations of voter fraud in the growing 'robocall' scandal. Racknine Inc. is being asked to hand over any data, such as emails or billing records, linking it to the Conservative campaign in Guelph, Ont., where the robocall accusations originated. Residents said they received phone calls directing them to the wrong voting locations. ...They are also asking for all records related to a disposable 'burner' cellphone number from Joliette, Que., also linked to the robocalls."


Speaker rejects emergency debate

"(On) Monday, Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer rejected a Liberal request for an emergency debate on the issue, citing the investigations by police and Elections Canada. ...'This debate is necessary because denying someone the opportunity to vote, is to deny them the most basic right that exists in our democracy,' Liberal leader Bob Rae said in a letter to Scheer."


House of Commons motion

"(Also on) Monday, the House of Commons unanimously passed a motion Monday that asks all MPs to help the RCMP and Elections Canada investigate the robocall allegations. ...While the Conservatives supported the NDP motion, Prime Minister Stephen Harper denied his party was involved in the dirty tricks. ...'If the NDP has any information that inappropriate calls were placed, and we certainly have information in some cases and we have given that to Elections Canada, then I challenge that party to produce that information and give it to Elections Canada.'"


Conservative Party 'investigation'

"The Conservatives say they are conducting their own internal investigation into the matter. ...Last week, Michael Sona, a 23-year-old Conservative staffer, resigned from his post at an Ontario MP's office after his name was linked to the robocalls. However, a source has told CTV that Sona is being 'thrown under the bus' as he is not 'tech savvy' and 'couldn't have done the robocalls on his own'. NDP MP Pat Martin has dismissed the claim that the calls were the work of one staffer acting independently, however, telling CTV's Question Period on the weekend that the calls were part of a deliberate, planned strategy to mislead Liberal and NDP voters."


By-elections by court order?

"Rae suggested Monday that the Liberals may attempt to have results in some ridings overturned. In particular, he cited the riding of Etobicoke Centre, which he said 'is being litigated right now, and will be in court at the end of April.' In that riding, Conservative Ted Opitz beat Liberal incumbent Borys Wrzesnewskyj after a recount put the Tory on top by 26 votes. ...In older for a by-election to be called, an elector in a specific riding would have to prove to a federal judge that the number of electors affected by the robocalls was greater than the number of votes that separated the winner and the second-place candidate. 'If you're able to demonstrate that, the judge will say a by-election must be called,' Canada's former chief electoral officer Jean-Pierre Kingsley said. 'This is so serious that when the judgement is made, if you want to appeal that, you have eight days, that's all. And then it goes to the Supreme Court of Canada directly, and they must deal with it expeditiously.'"


To add your voice to Leadnow's call for a public inquiry backed by the RCMP and Elections Canada and to read Steven Shrybman's blog on the court remedy option under the Elections Canada Act, please go to http://canadians.org/blog/?p=13769

ROBOCALL UPDATE: March 2, 2012

MUST WATCH: REPORT ELECTION FRAUD - Council of Canadians

http://www.canadians.org/

Mounting evidence of fraudulent robo-calls, impersonations of Elections Canada staff and other deliberate attempts to deceive voters in the 2011 federal election have struck at the very heart of our democracy and shaken Canadians to the core.

SURVEY: If you or someone you know has been the victim of misleading or harassing actions around the 2011 federal election, we want to hear from you now:

http://www.canadians.org/election/survey/index.html

= = = = = =


VIDEO: Robocalled legal rights. (need Flash Player to view)

http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Politics ... _Politics/
1305400780/ID=2204337728

Steven Shrybman, a lawyer for the Council of Canadians, discusses how Canadians affected by fraudulent phone calls during the last federal election can assert their legal rights, CBC Power & Politics, March 1, 1012


VIDEO: Robocalls : CTV News Channel: Garry Neil, executive director, March 1, 2012

http://watch.ctv.ca/news/latest/robocalls/#clip629622

- - - - - -


Council of Canadians willing to take legal action to defend democratic rights

http://canadians.org/media/other/2012/01-Mar-12.html

MEDIA RELEASE For Immediate Release March 1, 2012

Ottawa - The Council of Canadians announced today that it is canvassing its members and other Canadians to determine the extent to which the “robo-calls” and other dirty tricks during the May 2011 federal election may have undermined basic democratic principles in ridings across the country.

“We are deeply concerned about the recent media reports that many voters were misled, harassed or otherwise subjected to dirty tricks that may have impaired their ability to freely cast their ballots. While we applaud the fact that all parties are urging Elections Canada to investigate these serious allegations, we believe the victims here are the electors. We intend to find out from them the full extent of the nefarious campaigns,” said Garry Neil, Executive Director of the Council of Canadians.

Members of the Council of Canadians are committed to preserving Canadian democracy. Being able to participate freely in elections is at the very heart of that democracy. To ensure the widest possible input, the Council is partnering with other social justice groups, including Leadnow and others, and thus the survey questionnaire will be made available to a significant number of Canadians in each of the affected ridings.

“The Council is committed to ensuring that victims of electoral dirty tricks understand their right to defend their democratic franchise, including by making an application to the Court to have the election in their riding declared null and void under the Canada Elections Act” said Steven Shrybman, a public interest lawyer who is legal counsel to the Council of Canadians in this matter.

“All Canadians should be concerned if the rights of any of them to freely participate in an election have been impaired. We invite Canadians who were affected by any of these dirty tricks to contact us immediately,” concluded Mr. Neil.

The Council of Canadians is Canada’s largest social justice organization, with 75,000 supporters from coast to coast. -30-

For more information:

Dylan Penner, media officer, Council of Canadians, 613-795-8685, dpenner@canadians.org
Twitter: @CouncilOfCDNs, Facebook



MEDIA ADVISORY:

Council of Canadians to hold press conference on Robo-call scandal

http://www.canadians.org/media/other/20 ... -12-a.html

_____________________

NEWS: Council of Canadians urges action against electoral fraud

http://canadians.org/blog/?p=13849

By Brent Patterson

Postmedia News reports, “The Council of Canadians is urging individuals with evidence of dirty tricks in the past federal election to join the group’s legal push to have results thrown out in ridings most affected by misleading robocalls. Garry Neil, executive director of the Council of Canadians, said individual Canadians have the legal right to take action against electoral fraud, and that the council will provide the tools and the support needed to exercise these rights to the fullest.”


NEWS: Harper denies party involvement in the growing robo-call scandal

http://canadians.org/blog/?p=13847

By Brent Patterson

The Globe and Mail reports, “Stephen Harper is categorically denying the Conservative Party’s national campaign was behind misleading robo-calls… It’s a declaration that could come back to haunt him should evidence ever surface that anyone at Conservative election headquarters on Lancaster Road in Ottawa knew of illegal phone calls. …Opposition parties allege the problem is more widespread – across 30 to 40 ridings – but Conservative partisans privately say they believe whoever was behind the calls in Guelph was perhaps responsible for similar activities in a handful of ridings at best.”




Election 2011: Voter Suppression - Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

http://www.policyalternatives.ca/public ... ommentary/
election-2011-voter-suppression

Hennessy's Index: A number is never just a number

by Trish Hennessy

National Office | Commentary and Fact Sheets
Issue(s): Federal election March 1, 2012

Hennessy's Index is a monthly listing of numbers, written by the CCPA's Trish Hennessy, about Canada and its place in the world.

Scroll down for a PDF version.

NOTE: ALL LINKS for Sources below here: http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/commentary/
election-2011-voter-suppression

For other months, visit:
http://policyalternatives.ca/index

18 - Minimum number of ridings in which Canadian voters were allegedly harassed or deceived about voter information during the 2011 federal election, spawning an Elections Canada investigation into voter suppression tactics. (Source)

43 - Total number of ridings, to date, which Liberals and New Democrats claim received “false or misleading” phone calls during the 2011 federal election. (Source)

51 - Number of close races in the 2011 federal election. (Source)

11 - Number of House of Commons seats buffering the Conservative Party’s majority rule. (Source)

2 - Number of companies linked, to date, to potential voter suppression-related election-time calls (RackNine and RMG). (Source 1, 2, 3)

0 - Number of fake calls voice broadcast company RackNine claims it knowingly facilitated during the 2011 federal election, though Elections Canada allegedly traced fraudulent phone calls to a RackNine number. RackNine claims no knowledge of such tactics and is cooperating with Elections Canada’s investigation. (Source 1, 2)

10 million - Number of robocalls RackNine claims it made, out of 200 accounts, during the 2011 federal election. (Source)

94 - Number of Conservative candidates who allegedly paid for RMG’s services in the 2011 campaign. Election-time staff from a Thunder Bay-based RMG call centre allege they were instructed to make calls to voters relaying false information.. (Source 1, 2)

1 - Number of Conservative staffers publicly associated with the robocall scandal to date, though he claims no involvement. (Source 1, 2, 3)

5 - Number of years a person can spend in prison for breaking Canada’s Election Act (or up to a $5,000 fine, or both. (Source)

= = = = = =

PETITION: ELECTION FRAUD - Demand a real investigation!

http://www.avaaz.org/en/election_fraud//?vl

Thousands of voters may have been tricked into not voting in the last election, and investigators are currently failing to conduct a national investigation. Click below to tell Elections Canada and the RCMP that Canadians demand a real investigation, including an account of all election day robocalls -- then forward this email and ask friends and family to join the movement to save our democracy from fraud and corruption:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/election_fraud//?vl

News reports have just revealed that callers supporting Harper likely misled thousands of voters in the last election. But we can undo this fraud, if investigators now work to find the truth of what really happened.

Last election, voters in as many as 45 ridings received misleading and fraudulent phone calls telling us to go to fake polling stations. New media reports show that this orchestrated attack on our democracy might have worked -- flipping seats to benefit the Conservative party and giving them a majority in Parliament. Elections Canada and the RCMP are, thus far, limiting their investigation to one riding and the members of one political party -- if we raise a massive public outcry they will be forced to expand their investigation to third parties and to dig into fraud across the country.

At minimum, our public officials should review all robocall contracts for election day, and we can make them dig deep in every implicated riding. Click below to demand Elections Canada and the RCMP act now to protect our democracy, then forward to everyone:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/election_fraud//?vl

On election day - May 2, 2011 - Canadians were inundated with dishonest phone calls saying that voting stations had been moved, then directing voters to a wrong location. Some of these callers even posed as Elections Canada officials. We need get to the truth and to do that we need Elections Canada and the RCMP to expand their investigation and ask the courts to reveal all calling companies’ orders for election day calls. These calls were likely so widespread that they could have actually changed the outcome of many close races!

We already know that Guelph was targeted by misleading calls and that this was part of a complex and pre-meditated plan. Some of the calls used a number tied to a disposable “burner” phone paid for in cash and registered to a Mr. Pierre Poutine on Separatist St., Quebec. A conservative staffer working on the campaign in Guelph has already resigned and if Elections Canada and the RCMP expand their investigation we can get to the truth and confirm full responsibility for all the election day fraud, in all 45 implicated ridings and beyond.

Our government was elected under suspect circumstances rife with reports of voter fraud -- but we can get to the truth. Click below to tell Elections Canada and the RCMP to expand their investigation:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/election_fraud//?vl

Millions of Avaaz members rallied together to win anti-corruption laws in Brazil and in India and now Canadian citizens can come together to rescue our democracy. We can’t let governments steal elections and if we take action today we can win back our democracy.

With hope,

Emma, Ari, Ricken, Laryn, Melanie and the rest of the Avaaz team

Sources - All Links are here:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/election_fraud//?vl

'Robocall' probe puts Tory campaign in Guelph under microscope (Montreal Gazette)
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/
Robocall+probe+puts+Tory+campaign+Guelph+under+microscope/6218191/story.html

Fraudulent calls a sophisticated attempt to disrupt an election (Globe and Mail)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/
election-fraud-probe-zeroes-in-on-tories-in-guelph/article2352420/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A%20RSS%2FAtom&utm_source=Politics&utm_content=2352420

Marketing strategist Stewart Braddick plays role in Conservative party’s electoral success (Toronto Star)
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/
1137730--marketing-strategist-stewart-braddick-plays-role-in-conservative-party-s-electoral-success

Harassing and misleading phone calls in 2011 federal election reported nationwide, Liberals and NDP say (Toronto Star)
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/
1137755--harassing-and-misleading-phone-calls-in-2011-federal-election-reported-nationwide-liberals-and-ndp-say

Robocalls scandal spreads across Canada as number of affected ridings hits 34 (National Post)
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02/26/
robocalls-scandal-spreads-across-canada-as-number-of-affected-ridings-hits-34/

30 complaints about fraudulent poll changes filed to Elections Canada (Global News)
http://www.globalnews.ca/elections+canada+complaints/
6442590858/story.html

Elections Canada probed Tories’ Guelph campaign in November (Maclean's)
http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/02/28/
elections-canada-probed-tories-guelph-campaign-in-november/

List of ridings hit by election calls complaints (CBC)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/02/27/
pol-strange-election-calls-list.html

WATCH: MAY - Robocall Pilot Project: Elections Canada Drops the Ball in BC 2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8X_XESpKQA

Uploaded by dlangertoronto on Mar 4, 2012

Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada, describes the automated dialer election fraud in the Saanich-Gulf Islands electoral district in 2008 as the pilot project for subsequent 2011 AD election fraud:

In my riding in Saanich-Gulf Islands in 2008 ... there was a very very significant interference in the vote through automated dial calling into the riding and it was very plausible that it re-elected the conservative MP Gary Lunn .. the NDP candidate whose name was on the ballot had to withdraw when it was too late to take their name off the ballot ... on the night before the vote, thousands of calls were made in the riding to NDP supporters to say get out and vote NDP .. now remember there's no candidate for real, you could have had a majority of votes for the NDP and you would not have elected anybody, because the candidate had withdrawn, the name was on the ballot, the candidate had withdrawn; so the effect of this we think was they went from 1% in the polls the week before, but there was no candidate, to a 6% vote return on election day, and it was enough of a margin to deprive the Liberal of the chance to defeat Gary Lunn..

I think this was the pilot project for robocalls was Saanich-Gulf Islands in 2008.. there were lots of complaints filed, and there was affidavit evidence, there was tons of effort put in to get to the bottom of this, the Liberal Party an SGI complaint, the NDP an SGI complaint, Elections Canada did an investigation, RCMP did an investigation, and they dropped the ball, they just said we can't figure it out because .. well first they were spoofed that the call displays were from an NDP phone number, that was the false trick.. so then they ended up finding the calls came from the United States, at that point they basically said "we can't figure out who did them and besides.. and since the candidates name was still on the ballot we don't really think it was election fraud"

In my riding in 2011 we did have calls going to voters saying "this is elections Canada your poll has changed".

We had angry people, we had confused people, and we reported it and within weeks of the election, May 19, I sent a letter to the head of Elections Canada to say "there are now widespread reports of phone calls that interfered, that told voters to go to different polling stations that were a blatant attempt to deny people the right to vote, the right to exercise their vote", nothing could be more disturbing in a democracy than a blatant attempt to prevent people from voting, however they were going to vote, and I never did have an answer from Elections Canada.

I have read the information that's been filed.. it's public court documents of the work that was done by Elections Canada to get to the bottom of this; what we now know.. their investigations have been restricted to Guelph, and the one person investigating it, it's apparent to me he doesn't have adequate resources.. he refers to having got information from one phone company that the phone number he was looking at was a trunk route.. he didn't have any experts helping him [he wrote in the affidavit] "So then I went to Google and put in 'trunk route' and this is the definition I got from Wikipedia" .. a ton of what Elections Canada now knows and allowed them to decipher between Racknine and Bell and phone calls and how the whole thing worked was based on the fact that one of the complainants was an expert.

(ALL LINKS on original URL)

Category:
News & Politics

Tags:
election fraud
robocall
Elections Canada
Saanich-Gulf Islands
Elizabeth May
Green Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
License:
Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)

ROBOCALL UPDATE: March 6, 2012

Now Canada Needs Election Outside Observers ( . . . don't miss the Cartoon)

http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2012/02/27/OutsideObservers/
?utm_source=mondayheadlines&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=050312

We used to help other nations keep it clean on voting day. Who will hold us honest?

By Geoffrey Stevens, 27 Feb 2012, TheTyee.ca

[ Cartoon by Greg Perry. ]

For the past decade, the federal government has been underwriting the cost of sending election observers from Canada to more than 40 troubled countries around the world to help them make sure that their elections are as free as possible from fraud, intimidation, ballot-stuffing, voter impersonation, misrepresentation and other abuses.

Canadian observers have joined international efforts to keep elections clean in such places as Ukraine, Congo, Egypt, Russia, Nicaragua, Haiti, Belarus, Sudan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mozambique and Georgia (the one in Europe, not the U.S.), among others.

A humble suggestion. Is it not time we invited observers to monitor the honesty of elections in, um, Canada?

- - - SNIP - - -

Harper maintains he is ignorant and innocent of any involvement in dirty tricks. I'm sure he is truthful. He only knows as much as he wants to know, or as much as his handlers feel it is safe to let him know. Deniability is precious thing in politics. But it is no substitute for moral leadership. And that is sadly lacking in Ottawa these days.

= = = = =

FRYER: VOTER SUPPRESSION SCHOOL: Manning Center for Democracy


http://jcvdude.blogspot.com/2012/03/
voter-suppression-school-manning-center.html

Here's an interesting letter to the editor, which may or may not be or has or has not been published.

From: John Fryer <mailto:johnlfryer@shaw.ca>
To: sunletters@vancouversun.com
Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2012 2:14 PM
Subject: Letter to the editor

Dear Editor,

In January 2010 my UVic inbox had an e-mail invite from the Manning Centre for Democracy to a Campaign School. Intrigued, I signed up for the 3 day event. Topics covered included voter identification. Discussion ensued about suppression techniques. Instructors explained voter suppression tactics were borrowed from those used by the U.S. Republican Party. Many kinds of suppression calls were canvassed. Another instructor gave detailed explanations of how robo calls worked, techniques for recording messages plus costs involved. He distributed his business card upon request.

Instructors made clear that robo calling and voter suppression were perfectly acceptable and a normal part of winning political campaigns. The denials now expressed by the Prime Minister and his Parliamentary associates thus ring hollow if not something worse.

Having attended this Campaign School it's obvious that for Conservatives voter suppression strategies are standard in their playbook on how to conduct elections. Having thus lowered their standard of election ethics to that of their Republican cousins it is hardly surprising that the result is a so-called majority government that was voted for by 39% of the 61% who managed to get to their proper polling station. A majority government supported by a mere 26 percent of Canadians.

A more compelling case for changing to a system of proportional representation where each and every vote counts is hard to imagine.

Sincerely yours,
John Fryer C.M.
Adjunct Professor, School of Public Administration,University of Victoria.
2491 Dryfe Street, Victoria, B.C.
250-592-0549.

= = = = ==

TURMEL: New Democrats on election fraud

----- Original Message -----
From: <Nycole.Turmel@parl.gc.ca>
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 2:15 PM
Subject: New Democrats on election fraud

Thank you for writing. Please be assured that New Democrats share your
concerns regarding the fraudulent calls made during the 2011 federal
election.

We are collecting stories from Canadians about mysterious phone calls from "Elections Canada" in the days prior to the last election. If you received such a call or know anyone who did, we encourage you to contact Elections Canada (http://www.elections.ca/) and let us know as well!

We firmly believe that - anyone - involved must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. To ensure that this happens, there needs to be an inquiry to get to the bottom of this latest Conservative election scandal. Canadians don't want to wait five years for answers as they did with the Conservative in-and-out scandal.

As this story unfolds, the growing number of Ridings reporting voter
interference shows just how widespread this action was to keep Canadians
from exercising their right to vote. Voter suppression is an unacceptable
practice that violates sections of the Elections Canada Act and people or
parties responsible for these dirty tricks need to be held to account.

It is very troubling that the illegal calls have been traced back to
RackNine and Responsive Marketing Group (RMG) - companies that worked with the Conservative national campaign and multiple Conservative candidates. It cannot be ignored that these calls were made to voters in NDP and Liberal swing ridings.

I am pleased to report that New Democrat MPs Alexandre Boulerice and Charlie Angus acted quickly and written directly to the Commissioner of Canada Elections calling for a full investigation. In the letter, they emphasize that: "Canadians deserve assurance that their democratic institutions will be protected and those that violate the rules are prosecuted to the full extent of the law. If there is anything Parliament can do to help your investigation, you will have the support of the Official Opposition."

Read more here:

http://www.ndp.ca/press/
rcmp-elections-commish-must-find-charge-those-respon
sible;

http://www.ndp.ca/press/
dear-conservatives-please-explain-those-misleading-phone-calls-again;

http://www.ndp.ca/press/
ndp-write-to-elections-commish-with-new-info-on-vote-suppression.

Between election fraud and scandals by past governments, it's no wonder
Canadians think Ottawa is broken. Only New Democrats remain focused on delivering for Canadians and cleaning up Ottawa for good.

Again, thank you for writing. Please be assured that New Democrats will
continue to speak out on this matter.

Best regards,

Nycole Turmel, M.P.
Interim Leader of the Official Opposition
New Democratic Party of Canada

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HARDING: PART II – WE STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE

http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =2394#2394

By Jim Harding For publishing in R-Town News March 9, 2012

NOTE: Part I is here: http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1159

In the last piece, Part 1 of this series, I documented Harper’s contempt for parliamentary democracy, his manipulation of elections, his undercutting of freedom of information and disregard for international law, and his predilection towards political surveillance. In a nutshell it seems his government holds little or no allegiance to our democratic practices. In Part 2 I look at the injustices that will result from the policy changes that Harper is pushing through with his authoritarian rule.

DISMANTLING MEDICARE

While heading the National Citizens Coalition (NCC) and before leading the Alliance Party, Harper appealed to the alienation of Western Canadians from the federal government. But the policies he affirmed made a mockery out of our citizenship and in retrospect his use of the phrase “Citizen’s Coalition” seems slightly Orwellian. The NCC opposed Medicare, which is embraced by a vast majority of Canadian citizens as basic to our national identity. While acting as the NCC head Harper called for the scrapping of the Canada Health Act, which was created to ensure equity in health services for all citizens across Canada.

Harper has consistently called for the provincialization of healthcare. Soon after his majority government in 2012 and without consultation or meeting with the provinces, he announced a federal funding formula based solely on per-capita grants. This formula totally ignores different needs across the country, especially in the provinces with the higher percentages of seniors who require more health care. It pits the provinces that would benefit, such as Alberta with its younger workforce, against those provinces who would not, driving yet another wedge into Canada. This is intended as a first step towards balkanizing healthcare, empowering and forcing provinces to build-up their private-for-profit delivery system.

ATTACKING PENSIONS

Before he was PM, Harper attacked the Canadian Pension Plan or CPP which has worked very well for Canadians. Rather than build upon the strengths of the CPP, in 2011 he introduced the Pooled Registered Pension Plan (PRPP) which would be run by banks, mutual funds and the insurance industry. His recent attack on the Old Age Security (OAS) for being financially unsustainable is also strictly ideological. Independent researchers have concluded that the projected increase in expenditures from 2.3 to 3.1 percent of GDP is financially sustainable, and among the lowest cost in all industrial nations.

Harper is playing on an undercurrent of resentment for the Baby Boomers coming from younger, less wealthy generations, whom he is claiming to protect with cuts to public pensions. With no interest in evidence-based policy, he ignores how many people presently depend on public pensions: eleven million workers lack workplace pensions, only one-third have enough savings to use their full RRSPs, and most telling, almost 90% of RRSP’s investments come from the top 10% income group.

If anything, upcoming generations who are increasingly part of what is called the “precariat” will have even less access to work-place pensions and less ability to save privately. The way to protect them when they become seniors is clearly to protect and expand our public pension plan.

Harper’s policy objective, however, is to move pensions from the public to the private saving sphere, to the advantage of financial corporations and to the detriment of the quality of life of retiring Canadians. With his publicly-funded pension of over $200,000 annually Harper won’t personally need the $6,000 per year from the OAS. Nor will he be among the sparse 6% of seniors who earn enough ($69,000) to get OAS benefits clawed back. However, the public pension plan, including the Guaranteed Income Supplement or GIS, remains critical to the wellbeing of the majority of Canadians; it provides up to 75% of the retirement income of low-income seniors, including women who have worked in the home without incomes.

UNDERMINING PARTICIPATION

Harper cleverly masked his hostility towards the rights and freedoms of Canadians by using populist language from the very beginning of his political career. All the Reform Party talk of transparency and accountability now looks rather trite in view of Harper’s steady moves towards more authoritarian rule.

Rights and freedoms are not abstract, they must be guaranteed; for example, there must be policies that affirm equal access to information and to legal and political processes for citizens to fully participate in society. There remains a huge inequity between male and female participation in decision-making within Canadian society, yet, while still a minority government, Harper abolished most Status of Women offices across Canada. He eliminated funding for the National Association of Women and the Law and for the Court Challenges Program, which further weakened the ability of vulnerable Canadians to participate more equally in Canadian society. He eliminated the budget of the Law Commission of Canada which advised Parliament on law reform and gave life to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

LAW AND DISORDER

While Harper tries to dismantle public health, pension and participation programs that provide some semblance of social justice he shifts massive taxpayer-resources towards social-political control. Billions have been committed to build mega-prisons in a time of a falling crime rate. He continues to centralize political power by legislating mandatory sentences that will further drive up taxpayer costs. His government continues to misinform Parliament about the real costs of his mega-prison plan. By 2015 he will likely have doubled the annual spending on prisons, adding $5 billion a year for the taxpayers to pay.

Harper came to power in great part by driving a huge wedge between the amorphous population he stereotypes as “criminal” and the rest of us. Yet it could be members of any of our extended families that could end up in Harper’s expanded prison system. While planning to incarcerate more Canadians, he has cut rehabilitation programs throughout the corrections system, ensuring that hardening and not the healing of Canadians will result from imprisonment. Meanwhile his government and party continue to show disrespect for the rule of law, or the rules by which elections and parliamentary democracy operate. The double standard grows each day.

RETRIBUTION NOT JUSTICE

The overall pattern is most revealing. Just after first being elected in 2006 he rescinded the Kelowna Accord which was the first comprehensive agreement to improve the quality of health and education among First Nations. Health, education and housing, and not more prisons, should be a policy priority for Canada if we want prevent more crises such as occurred at Attawapiskat. Then in 2007 his government cut over a billion from the national childcare program, in spite of all the research showing that attention to quality of life in early childhood pays “dividends” throughout the life cycle. In 2010 Harper showed his “policy priorities” by spending as much as he previously cut from national childcare on policing the G20 meeting in Toronto, funding the largest mass arrest in Canadian history.

Social justice is about finding a fairer way to distribute benefits and burdens across groups in society. The Harper government is steadily shifting resources from advancing social justice, which we know enhances the health of the community, to retributive programs, which we know can perpetuate social and political disintegration. There seems to be little or no awareness in his circles about the positive role of restorative justice in consolidating social solidarity. His mean-spirited punitive approach to the role of government is a throw-back to pre-democratic times.

This is another wake up call for Canadians.

Next time I’ll discuss how the corporate economy shapes Harper’s political agenda.

MORE at: http://jimharding.brinskter.net and www.crowsnestecology.wordpress.com

= = = = =

Exactly how dangerous is Stephen Harper? (Cartoon)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/
second-reading/gerald-caplan/exactly-how-dangerous-is-stephen-harper/article2357089/

gerald caplan Globe and Mail Update

Published Friday, Mar. 02, 2012 4:39PM EST
Last updated Monday, Mar. 05, 2012 5:11PM EST

Robo-gate, considered by many to be a concerted (if so far unproven) assault on democracy, has opened wide the simmering debate about Stephen Harper and his cronies. Are they reformers or revolutionaries? Are they simply a somewhat more ambitious form of the conservatism Canadians have known since John A., just a further notch or three along the traditional Canadian ideological continuum?

EXCERPTS:

Mr. Harper’s Conservatives, many of us fear, have changed the entire game. In fact for them it’s not a game at all. Like their cherished American Republican role models, when they speak about their war room, they mean it. And in war, it hardly needs saying, there’s little tolerance for democratic niceties.

- - - - - -

In fact, I’m informed by a former Conservative operative familiar with both the party and technology that there’s far more to be revealed in this saga. This is said specifically to involve close ties between the Harperites and American Republicans who have been constructing a terrifying, full-blown voter suppression machine, as The Nation magazine, among others, has well documented and CBC Radio’s The Current has noted. I have no idea if this will be found to be true, but based on the record, it is surely not implausible.

More related to this story (All Links at original URL)

Tories lose control of agenda as they try to ride out robo-call storm

Liberals build their case in robo-call scandal as Tory attack backfires

Elections Canada taps CRTC for help with deluge of robo-call complaints

ROBO-CALL UPDATE: March 7, 2012


ROBO-RALLIES this weekend:

CALGARY:
http://www.facebook.com/events/279165258822521/

SASKATOON:
http://www.facebook.com/events/188334024608977/

WINNIPEG:
http://www.facebook.com/events/336790496356157/

EDMONTON:
http://www.facebook.com/events/400985336582256/

REGINA:
http://www.facebook.com/events/384485521579099/

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Elections Canada launches complaint form for fraudulent calls

http://goto.thetyee.ca/
t?ctl=16A85E7:6D244622054605D0494163F239F790A08F7D795DAFB9E650&

By Crawford Kilian Tuesday, March 06, 2012

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ROBOCALL Election Fraud - Demand a Public Inquiry and Real Consequences

http://www.leadnow.ca/en/index

Together, we've sent over 40,000 messages demanding a full inquiry and serious consequences for election fraud. Now, as Prime Minister Harper attempts to downplay the severity of this deeply troubling situation, we need your help to reach millions of Canadians by writing a letter to the editor of your local paper.
Please read below for how to send your letter to the editor...

As you know, serious evidence has emerged in the last week of systematic fraud in the 2011 Canadian federal election.[1] Now we need your help to make sure that Canadians learn the whole truth and protect the most basic integrity of our democratic process.

Together, we've already sent an amazing 40,000 messages demanding a full and independent public inquiry and real consequences for election fraud. It’s working. The NDP and Greens have joined your call for a public inquiry. The Liberals are focused on a broad investigation by Elections Canada and they have said that they are open to the idea of a public inquiry.

In contrast, Prime Minister Harper is denying calls for a full and independent investigation by telling Canadians that the illegal calls were merely "dirty tricks" in a few isolated locations.[2]

But that story can’t account for the evidence. There are reports of illegal calls spread out over dozens of key ridings all over the country. It takes serious money and major phone number databases to target non-Conservative voters in multiple close ridings. Who paid? Where did the lists come from? Who decided?

We need to know what happened. Public pressure is the only thing that can protect our democracy. Today, you can help by writing a letter to the editor of your local paper about the need for a public inquiry and real consequences for election fraud. Together, we can reach millions of Canadians.

Here’s how to send your letter to the editor:

Think of a paper people in your community pick up regularly - a local or free paper is fine.

Check out this fantastic list to see if there’s an email contact for your paper:

http://www.canadians.org/wordwarriors/contacts.html

If not, go on the paper’s website, and look for the “contact us” link or similar, to find an email for letters to the editor.
Open up a new email, and write your letter (see below). Include your full name, address and phone number as many papers will not publish without.

Important: Please cc or bcc me when you send - matthew@leadnow.ca - so we can keep track.

It’s best if you write the letter in your own words, and keep it short (200 words max). Here are some key points you can use:

The news about the robocall election fraud scandal keeps getting worse.
There are reports that illegal calls took place in dozens of key swing ridings all over the country. This looks like a systematic campaign to mislead non-Conservative voters.
It takes serious money and major phone number databases to target non-Conservative voters in multiple close ridings. Who paid? Where did the lists come from? Who decided?
We need full, immediate, and publicly accountable investigations that include all affected ridings. We need a public inquiry to to learn the whole truth and restore the basic integrity of our democracy.
This looks like a lot more than just “dirty tricks.” Highly organized electoral fraud is a crime, and a direct attack on the foundation of our democracy.
If you get caught stealing a car, you don’t get to keep the car. If the party in government is found to be responsible for systematic electoral fraud then there must be new elections.

It’s vitally important that we turn up the pressure by talking about the need for a public inquiry and real consequences for election fraud. Every letter to the editor counts, and we need to respond fast to get them printed as soon as possible, so please send yours in today.

Thank you,
Matthew, on behalf of the Leadnow.ca team

Sources:

[1] Opposition parties raise doubts about Elections Canada’s ability to prosecute vote suppression investigation (Hill Times):

http://www.hilltimes.com/news/news/2012/03/05/
opposition-parties-raise-doubts-over-elections-canada%E2%80%99s-ability-to-prosecute/29811


[2] Prime Minister Stephen Harper denies using dirty tricks in Canada’s 2011 federal election (Toronto Star):

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/
1137741--prime-minister-stephen-harper-denies-using-dirty-tricks-in-canada-s-2011-federal-election


[3] Conserative majority turns down Elections Canada request for verification power (Global News):

http://www.globalnews.ca/
conservative+majority+turns+down+elections+canada+request+for+verification+power/6442595667/story.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leadnow.ca is an independent community that brings Canadians together to hold government accountable, deepen our democracy and take action for the common good.

Support the Leadnow.ca community! You can donate online at:
http://www.leadnow.ca/en/donate

= = = = =

[b]NDP leadership candidates make firm commitment on fair voting reform; three go farther[/b]

http://www.fairvote.ca/en/press-release/2012-03-07/
ndp-leadership-candidates-make-firm-commitment-on-fair-voting-reform-three-

For immediate release March 7, 2011

With Canada reeling from robocall revelations, the cure for democratic abuses varies by candidate.

The seven NDP leadership candidates all support making Canada’s voting system fairer and more proportional. Three have gone further.

Brian Topp, Peggy Nash, and Nathan Cullen have published specific policy statements on how they would make it happen. Topp and Nash would make it a campaign plank in 2015 and move swiftly to implement it after public consultation on the model, to be in effect by the following election. Cullen says the first bill he would introduce as prime minister would be to change the voting system.

Topp, Ashton, and Dewar have all said making the voting system more proportional would be a necessary condition for supporting any minority government. Cullen envisions a more cooperative situation than a minority government, but says under any circumstances he’d work with other parties to change the voting system. Mulcair and Nash agree that electoral reform would be a key demand or top priority, but won’t commit to making it a necessary condition or deal-breaker.

Martin Singh has not yet responded to Fair Vote’s questionnaire but has stated: “First-Past-The-Post is the ultimate voter suppression scheme; it suppresses half the votes by throwing them in the garbage can”.

Fair Vote Canada (FVC), Canada’s national citizens’ movement for fair voting reform, asked the NDP leadership candidates to answer three questions:

1. Have you signed the Declaration of Voters’ Rights at fairvote.ca?

2. If elected Prime Minister would you, in your first mandate, undertake a process that includes public consultation to make the federal electoral system fairer and more proportional to the popular vote?

3. As NDP Leader, would you make a process (which includes public consultation) to make the federal electoral system more proportional a necessary condition for supporting any minority government?

Their full responses have now been published at

http://www.fairvote.ca/en/
ndp-leadership-candidates-responses-to-fvc-que....

“We are delighted with the response to our questionnaire,” said Shoni Field, national president of Fair Vote Canada. “All six candidates who responded to our survey have now made firm commitments to implement fair voting reform, and three have published policy statements outlining how they would make it happen.”

“Perhaps most important of all,” added FVC Executive Director Wayne Smith, “the candidates have been speaking out about proportional representation during their campaigns. Canadians need to know that many of the problems of our current politics, from dropping turnout, to under-representation of women and minorities and the vicious and cut-throat tone of today’s political discourse, trace their roots to our antiquated winner-take-all voting system.” -30-

Contact:

Shoni Field, President
604-720-0541
Shoni.Field@FairVote.Ca

Wayne Smith, Executive Director
416-407-7009
Wayne.Smith@FairVote.Ca

http://FairVote.Ca

- - - - - -

#1) I Digress: Rick Salutin on Robo-calling
Toronto Star, March 06, 2012
http://www.thestar.com/videozone/1141906
[Thanks to Mark Henschel]

#2 The case against a Conservative conspiracy
John Ibbitson, Globe and Mail, Mar. 05, 2012
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/
john-ibbitson/the-case-against-a-conservative-conspiracy/article2358364/email/

#3 Robo-ethics What’s the big deal about 31,000 complaints out of 15 million voters?
Jim McDonald, Dundas, Ont. Globe and Mail, March 5, 2012
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/
letters-to-the-editor/march-5-letters-to-the-editor/article2358286/

#4 Robo-tactics
True, if we had a fair voting system, it would be no big deal.
June Macdonald, Globe and Mail, March 6, 2012
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/
letters-to-the-editor/march-6-letters-to-the-editor/article2359583/

= = = = = = =

ROBOCALL ELECTION FRAUD DID NOT START WITH THE 2011 ELECTION; it had its beginning in Canada at least by the 2008 Election.

Click on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8X_XESpKQA

Elizabeth May - Robocall Pilot Project: Elections Canada Drops the Ball in BC 2008 Elizabeth clarifies the current situation, and provides information on the 2008 Election robocalls.

= = = = = = = = = = = = ==

Tories go on offensive over robocalls

http://www.canada.com/news/Tories+offen ... robocalls/
6234917/story.html#ixzz1oGozj67E

= = = = = =

HARRIS: Harper Conquers Canada, One Robocall at a Time

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/jim-harris/
robocalls-scandal_b_1305397.html

Posted: 02/27/2012 6:49 pm

The widening "robocall scandal" is deeply disturbing -- as is its media coverage.

The language we use to describe a situation, the words that a journalist uses in their coverage of an issue, literally frame the issue and how we think about it.

This isn't a story about "dirty tricks," it's about election fraud. This isn't "stupid," it's illegal. This isn't "folly," it was a deliberate, systematic, strategic, targeted campaign to steal the election. This isn't "voter suppression," it's stealing democracy.

We should not treat this as some petty misdemeanor. This is a grave threat to our very basic freedom. This is a threat to our democracy. This is corruption.

You would expect this in some tin-pot dictatorship--not in Canada.

The stakes are much, much higher than most people or commentators realize. Harper won his "majority" with 6,848 votes. That's the difference between a Conservative candidate getting elected and the second place candidate in the 14 closest races that the Conservatives "won."

For instance, in Nipissing-Timiskaming the Conservatives "won" the riding with a mere 18 votes. In Etobicoke Centre it was just 26 votes. Out of the 14.7 million votes cast across Canada that is an infinitesimally small margin for a majority -- it's 0.048 per cent.

What was the exact nature of the illegality? Liberal supporters in tightly fought ridings received pre-recorded messages on Election Day claiming to be from Elections Canada telling them that the location of their polling station had been changed. The Liberals claim it was a factor in losing 27 seats. The NDP is claiming it happened to them too. The Conservatives didn't need to misdirect very many voters in very many ridings with tight races to steal the 2011 election.

What is the impact of this illegal action? With a "majority" Harper has eliminated the gun registry. He has appointed 48 Conservative so far in the 105 seat Senate, and four of the nine Supreme Court of Canada justices. This issue is not just about some inconvenient phone calls, it's about subverting our democracy, it's about altering the outcome of the election. And it's about Harper remaking Canada in his own image.

This is the heart of the real story: It's about the Conservative's usurping the power of government.

There are a few important points to make about this scandal:

The Conservatives have proven they will happily break the law to win power
The Conservatives pleaded guilty to breaking campaign spending laws in 2006 in the election that brought Harper to power. The Conservative party violated election spending limits, exceeding the amount the party was allowed to spend by $1.3 million -- through an "in-and-out" scheme.

In the end the Conservatives pled guilty and got a $52,000 fine.

There was no appropriate consequence for the Conservatives breaking Canada's election law. The fine is a joke. The Conservatives spent $1.3 million more than allowed to by law, "won" the election, and paid a penalty of $52,000. The reward: gaining access to the levers of power and deciding how to spend the Government of Canada's $270.5 billion budget.

The case took five years to be resolved. By this time the Conservatives had been in power for five years and had appointed 48 Conservatives to the Senate.

The Conservatives strategy is clear: break the law, deny any wrong doing, frustrate and stall any investigation -- whether by Elections Canada or House of Commons committee -- and when the final decision is about to be rendered, plea bargain and pay a fine.

But here's the realpolitik of it: It's five years after the fact, the media isn't paying attention. It's been covered already. Meanwhile the Conservatives have been enjoying power for five years. The consequences are, well, inconsequential.

The electoral fraud efforts were part of a systemic Conservative strategy
The Conservatives are trying to claim that a single individual, Michael Sona, was responsible. Sona has worked for Conservative candidates, for a Conservative MP, and for a Minister in the Harper Government. He is not some uniformed, neophyte newbie. He is, however, the sacrifice the Conservatives are more than willing to offer to try and put this illegal action to bed. So Sona was fired last week from his position in Conservative MP Eve Adam's office.

Harper's style is one of systematic command and control. No messaging, no strategy, is executed without the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) vetting and approving it. This has become crystal clear during Harper's tenure. Lawrence Martin's book Harperland documents this in detail.

Young Sona, having worked for a so many different Harper Conservatives would have had this drilled into him. The fact that it has taken Elections Canada and the RCMP almost a year -- with their powers to investigate -- to uncover this scheme shows to what great length the Conservatives went to to hide this.

The consequences for this electoral fraud should match the crime: Criminal charges should be laid and by-elections called for every riding where electoral fraud occurred. Any person or firm involved should be barred from working in any election campaign ever again.

Jim Harris,Former Leader, Green Party of Canada

Tel: (416) 467-6006; jimh@jimharris.com
Twitter: @JimHarris
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/jimharrisprofile
Web: www.jimharris.com

= = = = = = == = = = =

HARDING: WE STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE – PART I

http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =2373#2373

BY Jim Harding For publishing in R-Town News Mar. 2, 2012

This is the first in a Series of four articles looking at how the Harper government is undermining democracy, justice and sustainability and what Canadians can do to prevent his political agenda from balkanizing Canada.

We need to protect the political freedoms we have in order to make Canada a more equal and sustainable society. Without robust political freedoms the Harper government will continue to drive wedges between us for the benefit of a few, without regard for what climate change will do to our children.

We see historical examples of elected regimes centralizing power and aggressively attacking their opponents to gain dictatorial-like powers. Our soldiers fought against fascist regimes to prevent this. Canada is not immune to this threat. Our democracy is presently being challenged perhaps more than at any other time. Reductions in voter turn-out and widespread cynicism about crass power plays and the lack of authenticity in politics have already weakened our democracy. There are growing signs that the present federal government intends to use its power to weaken democracy further. [ . . . ]

- - - - -

HARDING: WE STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE – PART II

http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... php?t=1170

By Jim Harding For publishing in R-Town News March 9, 2012

In the last piece, Part 1 of this series, I documented Harper’s contempt for parliamentary democracy, his manipulation of elections, his undercutting of freedom of information and disregard for international law, and his predilection towards political surveillance. In a nutshell it seems his government holds little or no allegiance to our democratic practices. In Part 2 I look at the injustices that will result from the policy changes that Harper is pushing through with his authoritarian rule. [ . . . ]

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2009: The Prime Minister is now in such command that he can get away with pretty much anything

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/
democracy-canadian-style-how-do-you-like-it-so-far/article1403148/

by Lawrence Martin

Published on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009 6:15PM EST
Last updated on Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009 2:23AM EST

When you think about it, the way to make governing easy is to dispense as much as is possible with the demands of democracy. The d-word is a drag. It gets in the way of the exercise of power. Ways need be found to circumvent it.

There are a variety of such ways. One is to limit the voice of the bureaucracy, the public service, making it more submissive and partisan. Ditto the foreign service. As well, you want to dispense with agency or commission heads who don't follow your thinking. If some agencies get particularly meddlesome, such as Elections Canada, take them to court.

There's an old-fashioned idea, once a Reform Party thing, that regular people – those grassroots folks – should have a sniff of the action. As nice as it sounds, don't go there. You need to amass unparalleled executive power so everything is top down and put through the filter of politics. For your own caucus, you enforce such tight discipline that no one dare cast an independent vote. You issue your members a secret handbook on how to disrupt parliamentary committees. For Question Period, you instruct your members to answer most queries with a putdown of the previous government's record. . . . . . .

MORE:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/
democracy-canadian-style-how-do-you-like-it-so-far/article1403148/

= = == = =

VIEW FROM THE REICHSTAG

http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2012/01/26/Vi ... Reichstag/

In Berlin, I was told German history offers a lesson for Canadian democracy.

By Michael Byers, 26 January 2012, TheTyee.ca

EXCERPT: "The real surprise," I explained, "is that Harper does not appear satisfied with the extensive powers that are normally available to a majority government."

I tell my German colleague about the government's practice of invoking closure, with a frequency never before seen in Canada, to prevent elected MPs from debating major legislation such as the omnibus crime bill and a bill that will add dozens of new seats to the Commons.

About how, increasingly, the government moves the business of parliamentary committees behind closed doors, so that it can conceal embarrassing documents and reject witnesses proposed by opposition parties without fear of public censure.

Warning, with a smile

Finally, I explain how the Federal Court ruled in Dec. 2011 that a bill to abolish the Canadian Wheat Board was illegal because it violated a statutory requirement to poll wheat farmers first. No matter: the government adopted the bill anyway.

This led Peter Russell, the doyen of Canadian constitutional law, to warn: "Canadians should understand that at stake here is not just a technical point of law, but the integrity of parliamentary government."

At this point, a wry smile crosses the German professor's face.

"Professor Russell is right," he says. "It's all about understanding. Here in Germany, we sometimes learn our lessons too late."

Michael Byers holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia and serves on the board of the Salt Spring Forum.

ROBOCALL UPDATE: March 11, 2012


EVENT: Democracy not Robocracy! Election Fraud is Not Canadian!
Sunday March 11, 2012 (2:00 – 4:00pm)
Meet at Canada Place (9700 Jasper Ave) at 2:00pm for a March to the Alberta Legislature

Facebook event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/400985336582256/

Accepting the challenge from DemocracyCanada for “Canadians to rally in cities across the country to demand a public inquiry/ by-elections as necessary due to the electoral fraud associated with the Robocall scandal”, Edmontonians will hold a protest rally on Sunday, March 11 starting at 2:00 pm.

We will meet to rally in front of Canada place at 2pm. Bring a candle for a candlelight vigil and moment of silence for Canadian democracy. We will march to the legislature shortly after.

We will meet to rally in front of Canada Place (9700 Jasper Avenue) at 2:00 pm. Bring a candle for a candlelight vigil and moment of silence for Canadian democracy. We will march to the Legislature building shortly after.

We invite all interested people and groups to bring your own signs or special interest banners. Invite your friends and neighbours. Let's show our current government that they *do not* have support from all Canadians.

We the people of Edmonton, Canada demand a FULL PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO THE ROBOCALLS AND BY-ELECTIONS IN ALL AFFECTED RIDINGS!

Get Fraud out of Parliament NOW!
Understanding that many people have different agendas,

During this protest, these will be our minimum demands:

1) We ask for a public and independent criminal investigation.

2) We ask for by-elections in every riding affected by the scandal.

3) We ask for the resignation of any member of parliament found to be linked to Rack9 in anyway.

This will be a peaceful protest and family friendly environment.
If you cannot make the rally but believe you may have been affected by robocalls, you can report election fraud to the Council of Canadian at: canadians.org/election

= = = = = =

EVENTS: MARCH 11

GET FRAUD OUT OF PARLIAMENT. DEMAND PUBLIC INQUIRY/BY-ELECTIONS!

http://www.canadians.org/events/

We call on all Canadians to join in a PROTEST on Sunday, March 11, 1:00 - 4:00pm in every city across Canada. TIMES VARY BY CITY. PLEASE see Facebook event for list.

We the people of Canada demand a FULL PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO ALL CALLING PRACTICES AND BY-ELECTIONS IN ALL AFFECTED RIDINGS!

Get Fraud out of Parliament NOW!
Peterborough, ON

Peterborough Assembly on the State of our Democracy
1-3 pm, Confederation Park (Corner of McDonnel St. and George St. N.)
Organized by a concerned body of citizens including The Council of Canadians, Occupy Peterborough, Labour Council (coinciding with the beginning of the local St. Patrick Day Parade at 2 pm at the park).
Facebook event

= = = = = =

National Survey on Election Fraud - register here:
www.canadians.org/election/survey/.

= = = = = =

WATCH: VIDEO: Robocalls: CTV News Channel: Garry Neil, executive director, Council of Canadians, March 1, 2012

http://watch.ctv.ca/news/latest/robocalls/#clip629622

- - - - -

VIDEO: SHRYBMAN: Robocalled legal rights.

http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/1221258968/ID=2204337728

Steven Shrybman, a lawyer for the Council of Canadians, discusses how Canadians affected by fraudulent phone calls during the last federal election can assert their legal rights, CBC Power & Politics, March 1, 1012

= = = = = = =

Charlottetown chapter calls for public inquiry on robocall scandal

http://canadians.org/blog/?p=14045

By Brent Patterson, Friday, March 9th, 2012

The Guardian reports, “(More than 60) Islanders looking for answers in the robocall scandal rallied Thursday in Charlottetown to demand a public inquiry into the alleged voter suppression.”

“Leo Broderick with the Council of Canadians helped organize the rally and said they wanted to show that Islanders think it is a serious issue. ‘We want a public inquiry,’ he said. …Broderick said there were illegal activities during the election and if they aren’t investigated now who knows what will happen. ‘We’re beginning in a very dangerous area if this is not checked immediately,’ he said.”

“At least two people in the Egmont riding in western P.E.I. allege they received from someone claiming to be from Elections Canada to tell them their polling stations changed.”

“So far, Elections Canada has had reports of more than 31,000 incidents involving calls during the election and investigations are underway.”

“Among the people in the crowd Thursday were representatives from local labour unions, Malpeque MP Wayne Easter, former NDP candidate Joe Byrne and a representative from Egmont MP Gail Shea’s office.”

To read the full article, please go to

http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/2012-03-09/
article-2923192/Islanders-demand-inquiry-into-robocalls-controversy/1.

For Council of Canadians commentary and action on the robocall scandal, please see
www.canadians.org.

= = = = = = =

SHIELDS: The Tin-Pot 3rd World Nation!!

----- Original Message -----
From: Stewart Shields
To: Prime ministre ; Rae.B@parl.gc.ca ; Peter - M.P. Julian
Cc: Alberta Activism ; flaherty ; goodale
Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2012 12:59 PM
Subject: The Tin-Pot 3rd World Nation!!

This makes the necessity of a public inquiry the sole answer to get to bottom of this very serious attack on our democracy. If government members are to refuse to provide evidence willing, as is the case with Mr. Prescott, then a system that allows the use of subpoenas must be used to gain insights into what has went on to defeat our democratic system. How these over-the-top talk show hosts and scribes can try to lessen the sin of what has went on by these undercover operatives proves only how dangerous the Conservative party has become with the infusion of the Reform Party members at the top level!!

Trying to get this issue dismissed from front page news all across Canada is of course job-one for the wild-eyed branch of the Tory Party. However like the Tories Air-Bus scandal of the Mulroney years, there is simply to much meat on the bone to throw it away!! Although it was his Reform Party that brought this type of criminal voting practises forward in their leadership races, even Preston Manning is now squawking about the dangers every Canadian should feel at what has happened in our last federal election.

Now is the time for real Conservatives of the Progressive wing, to make themselves heard. Tossing the Harper crowd out of the party may save the Progressive Conservative movement, or Canada, from becoming a Tin-Pot 3rd world nation. Harper with his “Netanyahu Ideals” was promised to be a very dangerous element in Canadian politics. He is proving to be that exactly, ever since gaining enough power to be able to be a danger. Canada will be very lucky if it can nip the Reform Party influence on Canadians, with a Reformer as our Prime Minister.

A tough on criminal---- Prime Minister---Indeed!!

Stewart Shields
Lacombe, Alberta

- - - - - -

Guelph Tory worker cancels meeting with Elections Canada investigator

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/
guelph-tory-worker-cancels-meeting-with-elections-canada-investigator/article2365337/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A%20RSS%2FAtom&utm_source=Home&utm_content=2365337

steven chase OTTAWA— From Saturday's Globe and Mail Published Friday, Mar. 09, 2012 9:41PM EST

On the advice of his lawyer, a key player in the 2011 Conservative campaign for Guelph is refusing to answer more questions from Elections Canada investigators probing fraudulent robo-calls in the riding.

Andrew Prescott, the deputy campaign manager for Conservative candidate Marty Burke, has already conducted one telephone interview with Elections Canada investigator Al Mathews.

But a source says Mr. Prescott cancelled a face-to-face meeting with Mr. Mathews that had been scheduled for Thursday in Guelph, Ont.

His lawyer advised Mr. Prescott against taking the meeting because of intense media focus on his role in the 2011 campaign, the source says.

Mr. Prescott’s decision could potentially slow down Election Canada’s efforts in the robo-calls probe but the watchdog has been gathering evidence for months from sources as varied as PayPal and telephone companies. [ . . . ]

More related to this story (Links are on URL above)

Liberals hid anti-Tory robo-call in last year’s election, Conservatives say
‘Deplorable’ robo-calls rile Preston Manning
NDP fears Tories won’t act on pledge to strengthen elections watchdog

= = = = = =

Harper’s majority hinged on as little as 8,000 votes in the last election.

http://www.reddit.com/r/canada/comments/qq93n/
harpers_majority_hinged_on_as_little_as_8000/

On 09-03-2012, at 7:03 PM, Council of Canadians wrote:

Dear Council of Canadians supporter,

It's only been one week since we launched our national survey on election fraud but already the response has been amazing!

The Council of Canadians has received hundreds of reports, with claims of deceptive and harassing phone calls coming in from concerned voters right across the country. We've been able to get our message out even further through the media, including nationally televised interviews (you can watch these below). And new reports are coming in every day.

Thank you to everyone who has already filled out our survey. If you haven't yet, click here to do so now:
www.canadians.org/election/survey/.

You're directly helping to expose the nature and extent of these dirty tricks, and identify federal ridings where voter deception or interference may have influenced election results.

Voters and candidates in a given riding can apply to defend their legal rights under the Canada Elections Act. However, there may be an urgency to act if sufficient knowledge has been gained of such attempts to deceive or interfere.

"Canadians need to understand their rights in the Act", says Jean-Pierre Kingsley, Canada's former Chief Electoral Officer. "If an individual elector in a riding feels that there has been an irregularity, fraud, corruption or illegal practice that has affected the result, they can launch a legal action to annul the result. It's great that the Council of Canadians is working to inform Canadians of this right."

The Council is now analyzing all survey results by riding to determine next steps, including the possibility of supporting applicants who wish to pursue legal action.

Ridings of particular interest have emerged, including:

Nipissing-Timiskaming - margin of victory = 18 votes
Etobicoke Centre - margin of victory = 26 votes
Yukon - margin of victory = 132 votes
Elmwood-Transcona - margin of victory = 300 votes
Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar - margin of victory = 538 votes
Mississauga East-Cooksville - margin of victory = 676 votes
Winnipeg South Centre - margin of victory = 722 votes
Don Valley East - margin of victory = 870 votes
Willowdale - margin of victory = 932 votes
Vancouver Island North - margin of victory = 1,827 votes
Kitchener Waterloo - margin of victory = 2,144 votes
South Shore-St. Margaret's - margin of victory = 2,915 votes
Eglinton-Lawrence - margin of victory = 4,062 votes

We need your help and here are two ways you can right now:

1 - Please fill out our survey now. If you know someone else who received fraudulent or misleading information around the 2011 federal election, particularly in one of these ridings, please forward this on to them too.
2 - Make a donation now to help keep our Election Fraud Campaign moving forward. And if you're not yet a member of the Council of Canadians, join today!
It's thanks to your support that the Council of Canadians is able to take a lead role in this crucial issue. Working together as Canada's largest citizens advocacy group, we will vigorously defend this most fundamental of our democratic rights.
Thank you,
Garry Neil
Executive Director
The Council of Canadians

See below to watch national media coverage of the Council's election fraud campaign. And remember to fill out our survey at

www.canadians.org/election/survey/.

VIDEO: Robocalls: CTV News Channel: Garry Neil, executive director, March 1, 2012

http://watch.ctv.ca/news/latest/robocalls/#clip629622


VIDEO: Robocalled legal rights.

http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/1221258968/ID=2204337728
Steven Shrybman, a lawyer for the Council of Canadians, discusses how Canadians affected by fraudulent phone calls during the last federal election can assert their legal rights, CBC Power & Politics, March 1, 1012

ROBOCALL UPDATE: March 15, 2012


LISTEN: Marjaleena Repo on electoral fraud and the "Conservatives"

Wednesday, March 14, 2012, 8 a.m. CST
New Audio: CKUW Radio (University of Winnipeg Radio)
Listen here:
http://ckuw.ca/programs/detail/people-of-interest/

- - - -

I did this 15-20 minute interview this morning (March 14, 2012) with a Winnipeg radio station (CKUW), at the indecent hour (for me) of 7 am, fuelled by a lot of coffee. We ended up talking a lot about what happened to the Progressive Conservative party, the nature of the take-over (coup d'etat, in my opinion) in 2003 by Stephen Harper with Peter McKay's full co-operation and complicity by Elections Canada's Chief Electoral Officer, Jean Pierre Kingsley. Interesting experience with the interview: I was twice cut off, something that seldom happens, the interviewer said. ( I was reminded of the conference call attempted in December 2003 by the newly shafted members of the PC Party's management committee, of which I was a member, after Kingsley allowed the merger: the purpose of the call was to plan action to stop the merger, but someone or somebodies effectively interrupted the call with high level noise that made it impossible for us to get a sentence in! There was no point in arranging for another conference call because clearly we had a mole among us. When a complaint was put in to the PC Party by the now former party president, Bruck Easton, it came back, in essence, with, "Sorry, the party no longer exists, so your complaint is not valid." Case closed.)

Two years later a Federal Court of Appeal agreed with Sinclair Stevens, former Mulroney government cabinet minister and a staunch opponent of the "merger" that Mr. Kingsley had acted illegally by approving the merged party in just one day, rather than the 30 days required by law, BUT that since Mr. Kingsley had no power to act as an arbiter in internal party disputes, the quick registration had no material effect! (See Stevens v Conservative Party of Canada.)

I was glad to be able to connect the current apparent mass electoral fraud by the Cons to the party's inception by fraud, in David Orchard's famous words: "Conceived in deception, born in betrayal." It needs repeating!

I hope that the interview was/is coherent, despite the interruptions. Your feedback is welcome. Please do not hesitate to share it with others so they can have the "full view" of the party in power.

The interview can be heard later today at: http://ckuw.ca/programs/detail/people-of-interest/

and soon on
www.davidorchard.com

ALSO: Interview with Marjaleena Repo about the "robocall" scandal and voter obstruction

Thursday, March 1, 2012, 7 a.m. PST
New Audio: Vancouver Co-Op Radio
Listen here:
http://www.davidorchard.com/online/2do-index.html

Marjaleena Repo
Saskatoon, SK
306-244-9724

= = = = = = = = = =

(2008) The Canadian Nixon

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/24/
thecanadiannixon

From the British paper The Guardian:

Stephen Harper's feud with Elections Canada is just the latest front in his war against government institutions

Dimitry Anastakis and Jeet Heer guardian.co.uk, Thursday 24 April 2008 21.00 BST

Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper is in trouble with Elections Canada, the government body that runs the vote in Canada. They've accused him of overspending in the last election and have even gotten the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to raid the Conservative party's headquarters to find incriminating evidence. In response Harper and his followers have lashed out against Elections Canada, accusing it of a partisan witch hunt.

The whole sorry situation shouldn't surprise anyone who has paid attention. Every prime minister has a modus operandi. Harper's is his utter contempt, shown not once but many times, for Canadian institutions. In fact, it is not a stretch to say that Harper simply sees many Canadian institutions - Elections Canada being simply his latest target - as illegitimate, not just in need of reform but worth attacking root-and-branch.

The historian Garry Wills once observed that Richard Nixon wanted to be president not to govern the nation but to undermine the government. The Nixon presidency was one long counterinsurgency campaign against key American institutions like the courts, the FBI, the state department and the CIA. Harper has the same basic approach to politics: attack not just political foes but the very institutions that make governing possible. The state for Nixon and Harper exists not as an instrument of policy making but as an alien force to be subdued.

Canadians have never had a prime minister who has literally made his career attacking and undermining the legitimacy of Canadian institutions.

Until now. [ . . . . . ]

= = = = = = =

Investigators striking information ‘gold’ in Elections Canada robocalls probe: source

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/15/
investigators-striking-information-gold-in-elections-canada-robocalls-probe-source/

Postmedia News Mar 15, 2012 – 7:46 PM ET

By Stephen Maher and Glen McGregor

An investigation that began with one former Mountie methodically following a fuzzy electronic trail has broadened and intensified since the robocalls story broke last month, sparking more than 700 members of the public to complain to Elections Canada.

On Thursday, Marc Mayrand, the chief electoral officer, issued a statement promising to get to the bottom of allegations of “fraudulent or improper calls.”

“Over 700 Canadians from across the country have informed us of specific circumstances where they believe similar wrongdoing took place,” the statement said. “I appreciate the interest that Canadians have shown in this matter and thank them for their continued collaboration.”

Mayrand also warned against “drawing conclusions based on possibly inaccurate and incomplete information,” and offered to appear before a parliamentary committee to discuss the investigation... [ . . . ]

= = = = = = = =

Young Tory staffer becomes latest cause celebre for opposition in robocall spat

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/
young-tory-staffer-becomes-latest-cause-celebre-for-opposition-in-robocall-spat-142688755.html

By: Jennifer Ditchburn, The Canadian Press
The Canadian Press - ONLINE EDITION
Posted: 03/14/2012 4:40 PM | Comments: 185 (including replies) | Last Modified: 03/15/2012 8:41 AM

OTTAWA - Michael Sona has joined the ranks of other jilted Conservatives who suddenly find themselves defended and used by the official Opposition.

The young Tory staffer recently resigned as assistant to MP Eve Adams after unidentified sources were quoted as saying the Conservative party was investigating his possible role in placing controversial robocalls in Guelph, Ont., during the last federal election.... [ . . . ]

= = = = = = = =

Misleading calls followed ID as non-Tories, voters say

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/03/15/
pol-investigation-.html

Pattern of calls points to party's voter identification database, opposition says

By Terry Milewski, CBC News
Posted: Mar 15, 2012 9:02 PM ET Last Updated: Mar 15, 2012 9:22 PM ET

An investigation by CBC News has turned up voters all over Canada who say the reason they got robocalls sending them to fictitious polling stations was that they'd revealed they would not vote Conservative.
Although the Conservative Party has denied any involvement in the calls, these new details suggest that the misleading calls relied on data gathered by, and carefully guarded by, the Conservative Party.

Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand announced Thursday that he now has "over 700 Canadians from across the country" who allege "specific circumstances" of fraudulent or improper calls. CBC News examined 31 ridings where such calls have been reported and found a pattern: those receiving those calls also had previous calls from the Conservative Party to find out which way they would vote.

Tim McCoy of the riding of Ottawa-Vanier was one of those who complained to Elections Canada. He received a bogus recorded message pretending to be from Elections Canada — but he also had two previous calls from the Conservatives.

"They did call me back from the Conservative Association and ask if they could count on my support," said McCoy, who declined to pledge his vote. He thinks that's why someone tried to mislead him.

"It looks like a hijacking of the democratic process," he added. "I would like to know who made the call pretending to be from Elections Canada and I don't really care which way the finger points. I would like to know."

Elections Canada says it never calls voters at all. However, it is only now emerging that calls impersonating Elections Canada followed previous calls by Conservative workers asking which way voters were leaning. That suggests that the "Elections Canada" calls, which are illegal, came from people with access to data gathered by the Conservative Party, which carefully controls access to it.

Asked about that, party spokesman Fred Delorey had no comment and declined an interview....[ . . . ]

= = = = = =

NEW VIDEO + Something you and a friend can do at a Conservative MP's office

----- Original Message -----
From: ShitHarperDid.com
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2012 2:20 PM
Subject: NEW VIDEO + Something you and a friend can do at a Conservative MP's office

Dear Friends,

This weekend the people of Canada will officially hit the streets to start pushing for justice in the ongoing robocall election fraud scandal.

There are rallies happening all across the country and even if you don't have one in your city, here's something simple you can do by paying a visit to your closest Conservative MP's office along with a friend and some chalk :)

WATCH THE VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf4zcb6gKOg

Join Canadians from coast to coast who have already committed to participate in this simple creative action:
http://www.facebook.com/events/337099559673507/

Last week the first Robocall fraud protest was a huge success in Vancouver. One of our team members gave a well received speech (video / read it):
http://www.facebook.com/events/337099559673507/

You can find out if a protest is happening in your city this weekend, by checking here.

Recently one of the Harper Conservative's biggest election campaign companies has threatened legal action against our friend for exposing this story about robocall and voter suppression being discussed at conservative campaign trainings. The Harper Conservative's want this story to die and would love if new information stopped coming out.

All the more reason to join the 42,000+ Canadians who have already signed this petition demanding a public inquiry.

See you in the streets,

The SHD team

This email was sent by Truthfool Communications, creators of ShitHarperDid.com and CanadaCausesCancer.ca

= = = = = = =

(2011) Cribb: Harper’s secret weapon? The ‘Truth Plane’

http://www.thestar.com/living/article/
996766--cribb-harper-s-secret-weapon-the-truth-plane

By Rob Cribb Staff Reporter 2011/05/25 14:57:00

This just in: It appears Canadians were not solely responsible for giving Stephen Harper a majority government in the federal election.

Behind the scenes, Mark Bowden made us do it.

The British-born, Toronto-based body-language expert worked with Harper on his TV-debate optics in an effort to make him appear more statesmanlike and confident to our unconscious eye.

The results speak for themselves.

It seems far more Canadians were suddenly able to see Harper’s previously elusive humanity and trustworthiness, a message delivered through gestures that warmed him to us, says Bowden, whose client list includes international CEOs and politicians.

Watch the debate clips now and note the placement of Harper’s hands, cupped and open, directly at stomach height. Bowden refers to this as the “Truth Plane” — a visual expression that communicates the right mix of composed, competent resolve and level-headed credibility. [ . . . ]

= = = = = = =

While we keep building momentum to secure a full and independent public inquiry into alleged fraud in the last election, we want to make sure that no more lasting damage is done to Canadian institutions.

We have learned that the Conservative’s proposed budget targets the CBC for severe cuts. The cuts, which could be the equivalent of most of the cost of producing CBC radio, will damage our news and culture, while cutting local coverage in the countless places where the CBC is the main media presence.

The CBC keeps Canada connected. Like the railroads that knit our country together, the CBC provides a common thread for all Canadians living across our massive and diverse country. We can build on this tradition for a new era.

This budget is a moment of crisis for Canadian public media. Thousands of Canadians, led by Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, have already spoken out to support fair treatment in the budget, and now it's time for us to add our voices to their call. If we work together in one last push, we can show this government that the political cost of targeting the CBC is just too high.

Click here to send a message to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and key Conservative MPs that you want them to keep Canada connected, not make severe cuts to the CBC:

http://www.reimaginecbc.ca/connected

Good public media is important for our democracy and our culture. Last month, we started a campaign to “Reimagine the CBC” for a new era. The ideas are from the heart, distinctly Canadian, and often inspiring.

We can help the CBC become better for everyone, but not if excessive budget cuts destroy this opportunity. We have one last chance before the budget to show this government that there will be major political costs for targeting the CBC.

We will deliver your messages to the constituency offices of key Conservative MPs next week to show them that Canadians in their ridings, and from all around the country, want to keep Canada connected and stop severe cuts to the CBC.

Your voice is needed now. Please click here to send your message:
http://www.reimaginecbc.ca/connected

Thanks for everything you make possible.

With hope and respect,

Matthew, Jamie, Anna, Emma, Adam, Gracen, Ryan on behalf of the Leadnow team and volunteers.


Please support the Leadnow.ca community! We're funded by people like you, and our small team and growing community make sure your donation goes a long way. Every dollar helps.

You can donate online at
http://www.leadnow.ca/en/donate

PART III, WE STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE

By Jim Harding

For publishing in R-Town News on March 16, 2012

In Part 2 of this series, I showed how Harper’s health, social and legal policies will result in widespread injustices for Canadians. In Part 3, I explore the corporate agenda that drives Harper’s politics.

- - - - -

HARDING: WE STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE – PART I
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =2373#2373
BY Jim Harding For publishing in R-Town News Mar. 2, 2012

HARDING: WE STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE – PART II
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... php?t=1170
By Jim Harding For publishing in R-Town News March 9, 2012

- - - - - -

Harper will use his majority government to shift even more power to the corporate sector of the economy. For him the role of government is primarily to serve corporate interests; society serves the market rather than the reverse. With such a one-sided view it is little wonder that Harper has so little respect for democratic practices or policies which advance social justice.

STIMULUS PACKAGE

The 2008 recession forced Harper to appear to abandon his simplistic “free market” ideology. However, he still designed his stimulus package in a pro-corporate way. Unlike other industrial countries he refused to use government intervention to help make the conversion to green energy to address the climate crisis. The tar-sands and the nuclear industry were big benefactors. Though Harper continued cutting funds to social programs like childcare, he broke his promise to cancel billions in tax breaks for oil companies making record profits.

His Economic Action Plan favoured the well-off, not those most in need; while over 300,000 Canadians lost jobs during the recession, the wealth of Canada’s 100 richest people grew to an average net worth of $1.7 billion. Most organizations surveyed said Harper’s stimulus plan had a neutral or negative effect; even the right-wing Fraser Institute was critical. The $16 billion surplus he inherited from the Liberals quickly turned into a $56 billion deficit which Harper will reduce on the backs of ordinary Canadians.

While pursuing his corporate agenda Harper has steadfastly blurred the lines between the “Government of Canada” and his increasingly centralized control, using a cadre of 87 unelected staffers in the PMO’s Office. Harper’s Action Plan ads were even designed to appear to be from the Conservative Party and the Canadian taxpayer continues to foot the bill for Harper’s self-promotion. In 2011 public servants confirmed that Harper had sent a directive for the “Government of Canada” to be renamed “The Harper Government”.

CORPORATE DE-REGULATION

As head of the National Citizens Coalition (NCC) Harper advocated bank de-regulation along the lines taken by Republicans in the U.S. Thankfully he didn’t have a chance to do this for we would have suffered much more from the 2008 recession. But Harper’s rigid ideological commitment to de-regulation continues. While still a minority government he had already weakened regulations on pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables; new regulations coming from Agriculture Minister Ritz allowed food corporations to do their own labeling and safety inspections.

Tampering with food safety is a dangerous game. The listeriosis outbreak in August 2008, which the Sept. 16, 2008 Canadian Medical Journal linked to Harper’s deregulation of food safety, killed 17 Canadians. The contamination came from Maple Leaf Foods, one of the early companies to adopt the new regulations, which only required testing finished products once monthly.

Leaking Harper’s plans cost a Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) biologist his job. Legislation to protect whistleblowers would protect our health, yet Harper continues “muzzling” government scientists. Astonishingly, Minister Ritz commented that the real “whistleblower was the gentleman who turned in” the CFIA biologist. Ideology has replaced evidence in Harper’s anti-science approach to governing. In 2009 he cut scientific research funds by $138 million; in 2012 he pulled the plug on a world-renowned Arctic research station that monitors atmospheric changes.

GUTTING WHEAT BOARD

Minister Ritz brought in Harper’s first majority government legislation, Bill C-18, to kill the farmer-elected Canadian Wheat Board (CWB). Though a Federal Court found that this legislation breached the rule of law, and a majority of Western farmers have voted in support of the CWB, Harper carries on concentrating power with the large grain companies. He uses empty rhetoric about farmer’s “marketing freedom”, but it will be agribusiness that gets the “freedom” to control the market. Though the huge potash corporations have their own “single-desk”, Canpotex, the CWB’s single desk is taken from family farmers, who must make an “individual choice” about where to market. The so-called “open market” will reduce the role of producer organizations and of the Canadian Grain Commission, which has given farmers some assurance of third-party quality control. Individual farmers will also be more vulnerable to the railways and could become pitted against each other in the “rush to the bottom”. Canada’s largest grain handler, Viterra, may soon be sold to a U.S. firm like Cargill or ADM.

Harper is also re-regulating in the interests of energy corporations. His Minister Oliver has attacked the right of Canadians to participate in environmental reviews of tar-sand pipelines; he consistently says that environmental reviews will be cut back. His double speak: “We respect the integrity of the regulatory process but we do need to get these projects approved.” Harper clearly wants to gut the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) and replace it with designated one-stop review bodies that are closely tied to industry.

“JOBS AND GROWTH”

Harper obscures his commitment to corporate “growth and profits” with his mantra of “jobs and growth”. This appeal to working people and small businesses is an attempt to distract attention from his political agenda. Such “economism” goes back to the Mulroney era with its rhetoric about work, family and nation, but Harper has taken this to new lengths. The claim that the benefits of corporate-driven growth “trickle down” to the general population does not hold up to serious scrutiny; it accentuates inequality. In spite of the billions in wealth taken out of Saskatchewan by the uranium industry, the north remains the second poorest region in all Canada. Harper’s Alberta-style vision for Canada as an “energy superpower” will continue to distort the overall Canadian economy, creating divisions between Western provinces that export non-renewable resources and the rest. His highly contentious corporate agenda will put Canadian unity at further risk.

We already know what Harper’s policies do to “jobs and growth”. After receiving government subsidies and making $4.7 billion, an 80% increase in profits over 2010, Caterpillar had the audacity to demand a 50% decrease in wages from workers at its London plant. When workers refused the company shut down its plant leading to the loss of 450 jobs.

Exporting bitumen from Alberta to China will lead to a loss of home-grown, value-added jobs. Harper’s new immigration policy ignores the reunification of families and the human rights of refugees while privileging the labour force needs of corporations. Rather than respecting the collective bargaining process Harper consistently forces workers back to work. While Harper’s Minister Raitt recently stopped job action at Air Canada, CBC’s business co-host Kevin O’Leary went on a rant calling for the abolition of the unions and the firing of all employees. Those favouring Harper’s vision of an undemocratic corporate state are becoming more strident about their desire to trample on the rights and freedoms of Canadians.

NOT SUSTAINABILITY

Economic growth based on the sell-out of agriculture and non-renewable resources is not the path to a sustainable society. Harper’s backward-looking “vision” can be traced to the neo-liberal economics of the 1970s which ruthlessly embraced globalization as the means to expand the markets and profits of western multi-national corporations. People throughout the world have learned the hard way that unfettered “free trade” is not “fair trade”; that privatization of public services is a disaster for the common good, and that corporate de-regulation threatens public and environmental health.

This is another wakeup call for Canadians.

Next time I’ll discuss what can be done to get the Canadian government back in the hands of the Canadian majority.

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MORE of Dr. Harding's articles at:

http://jimharding.brinskter.net and
www.crowsnestecology.wordpress.com

ROBOCALL UPDATE: March 22, 2012 . . . other Political issues

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Previous ROBOCALL Updates Posted at:

http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... php?t=1158

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HARDING: Part IV - WE STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE

http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =2418#2418

By Jim Harding

For publishing in R-Town News on March 23, 2012

The full four-part series is available at:
www.rtownonline.ca, or www.crowsnestecology.wordpress.com

In Part 3, I explored the corporate agenda that drives Harper’s politics. In the last of the series, I discuss what we can do to get the federal government back in the hands of the Canadian majority.

Harper is taking Canada towards more centralized, authoritarian government. He is using his majority to advance legislation which will result in widespread social injustices and a shift of more power to the corporate sector. With opposition votes divided, he is positioned to take Canada further in this reactionary direction after 2015. Those who care about Canada and our citizens must now co-operate to create an alternative future.

Harper’s politics are devious, although demonizing him won’t help; he’s exploiting a situation that’s been in the making for decades. We will have to rely on Trudeau’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms to help limit Harper’s arbitrary rule, but it was Trudeau himself who started centralizing power in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Harper has built on this to create his “government within government”. It was Mulroney who made the big shift towards economism, where the corporate marketplace trumped everything; this has been a precursor to Harper’s desired corporate state.

However, Harper changed the “game”. His Ministers’ justification of any action because the party “got a mandate in the last election” ignores the fact that less than 3 out of 10 eligible voters supported Harper. Obsessed with power, he cares little for the implications of his devious methods and policies for Canadian unity down the road. When he pleads “smear campaign” over charges of vote suppression during the 2011 election, remember that the Harper Conservatives have already been convicted of electoral fraud from the election that first brought them to power. [ . . . ]

The full four-part series is available at:
www.rtownonline.ca, or www.crowsnestecology.wordpress.com

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Election fraud: how many unsolved crimes are there and can Elections Canada get to the bottom of them?

http://elizabethmaymp.ca/news/blogs/2012/03/19/
election-fraud-how-many-unsolved-crimes-are-there-and-can-elections-canada-get-to-the-bottom-of-them/

March 19, 2012
Lately, a lot of allegations have been made that there were election irregularities and some outright crimes committed in the 2011 election. What we do not know is who was responsible.

But we may be dealing with a serial offender, or offenders. When one thinks about the election skulduggery of the last six years, it is clear that Canada does a poor job of getting to the bottom of some serious crimes.

Here’s a short list of the ones that still bother me. They remain unsolved.

Here’s a short list of the ones that still bother me. They remain unsolved.

RCMP interference in the 2006 election. (Remember Zaccardelli issuing a press release about looking into NDP charges that the Liberals had leaked details about the income trust taxation issue? There was nothing to it, but it arguably changed the outcome of the election.) Issuing a press release in an election campaign was a violation of RCMP normal practice. Naming a Finance Minister in the release was unheard of. The Public Complaints Commission for the RCMP, under its director Paul Kennedy, tried to question former RCMP Commissioner Guiliano Zaccardelli. Zaccardelli refused to be questioned and Kennedy lacked subpoena powers. No one knows if there was any political involvement, inducement or pay-off involved. Zaccardelli is now a senior Interpol officer in Lyon, France.
How hard did the Conservatives try to bring down the Martin government in spring 2005? Did the effort include the offer of a million dollar life insurance policy to Chuck Cadman? It was alleged, there was a tape. What happened to the investigation? If it happened, it was illegal.
The Conservative campaign in the Nova Scotia riding of Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley in 2008. Courageous MP Bill Casey had been expelled from the Conservative caucus for voting against the 2008 budget which violated the contract with NS, known as the “Atlantic Accord.” In 2008, Casey ran as an Independent. The Conservative Candidate Joel Bernard left Stockwell Day’s office to challenge him. (In an interesting side-bar, the entire Conservative riding association insisted that Bill Casey was their candidate. The Conservative Party fired the whole of the local executive and appointed a secret group to chose their candidate.) Casey was re-elected handily. After the election, Casey learned that Bernard’s campaign had gone to the RCMP and alleged that Casey had embezzled funds from the Conservative riding association. There was no truth to such charges, but it also emerged that efforts had been made to peddle the story to the local media during the election. Media did not cover it because Casey’s reputation for integrity made it too implausible to treat seriously. But making unsubstantiated allegations and wasting RCMP resources were themselves possibly criminal acts.
In 2008, well-documented robocalls were made into the riding I now hold – Saanich-Gulf Islands. There are many details of this case in my previous blogs. It was clearly illegal. The automated calls claimed to be from the NDP and demonstrably were not. The home fax line of the NDP riding association president had been “spoofed.” (So that his number appeared to be the source of the calls.) Calls were made that urged citizens to vote for the NDP candidate who had withdrawn from the race. The robocalls may well have changed the outcome of the election. Yet, Elections Canada dropped the case and ruled no laws had been broken.
Were Larry Smith and Fabian Manning given any promises that if they left the Senate to run for a Commons seat in 2011, and were to lose, they would be re-appointed to the Senate? Both Conservative Senators vied for a seat, one in Montreal, the other in Newfoundland. Both lost and were re-appointed to the Senate within weeks of the May 2, 2011 election. Democracy Watch demanded an investigation as, if such a promise was made, it violated the Criminal Code.
Add these to the spate of calls in 2011 designed to misdirect voters to non-existent polling places, the allegations of a secret Conservative bank account in Vaughn. Add to that the legal, but unethical, use of “voter suppression” techniques – attack ads, writ periods at the legal minimum length, disgusting behaviour in the House of Commons – and you have a toxic recipe for poisoning democracy.

Canadians must not allow allegations of serious election crimes to be swept under the carpet once again. It may that the guilty party is a “win at all costs” attitude; an acceptance of the morally bankrupt idea that anything goes and the only sin is getting caught.

We need to know and we need to stop it.

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PART III, WE STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE

http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =2408#2408

By Jim Harding

For publishing in R-Town News on March 16, 2012

In Part 2 of this series, I showed how Harper’s health, social and legal policies will result in widespread injustices for Canadians. In Part 3, I explore the corporate agenda that drives Harper’s politics.

- - - - -

HARDING: PART I - Mar. 2, 2012
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =2373#2373


HARDING: PART II - Mar. 9, 2012
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... php?t=1170

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Harper will use his majority government to shift even more power to the corporate sector of the economy. For him the role of government is primarily to serve corporate interests; society serves the market rather than the reverse. With such a one-sided view it is little wonder that Harper has so little respect for democratic practices or policies which advance social justice.

STIMULUS PACKAGE

The 2008 recession forced Harper to appear to abandon his simplistic “free market” ideology. However, he still designed his stimulus package in a pro-corporate way. Unlike other industrial countries he refused to use government intervention to help make the conversion to green energy to address the climate crisis. The tar-sands and the nuclear industry were big benefactors. Though Harper continued cutting funds to social programs like childcare, he broke his promise to cancel billions in tax breaks for oil companies making record profits.

His Economic Action Plan favoured the well-off, not those most in need; while over 300,000 Canadians lost jobs during the recession, the wealth of Canada’s 100 richest people grew to an average net worth of $1.7 billion. Most organizations surveyed said Harper’s stimulus plan had a neutral or negative effect; even the right-wing Fraser Institute was critical. The $16 billion surplus he inherited from the Liberals quickly turned into a $56 billion deficit which Harper will reduce on the backs of ordinary Canadians.

While pursuing his corporate agenda Harper has steadfastly blurred the lines between the “Government of Canada” and his increasingly centralized control, using a cadre of 87 unelected staffers in the PMO’s Office. Harper’s Action Plan ads were even designed to appear to be from the Conservative Party and the Canadian taxpayer continues to foot the bill for Harper’s self-promotion. In 2011 public servants confirmed that Harper had sent a directive for the “Government of Canada” to be renamed “The Harper Government”. [ . . . ]


MORE of Dr. Harding's articles at:
http://jimharding.brinskter.net and www.crowsnestecology.wordpress.com

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Conservatives still tops: Poll

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/03/16/co ... -tops-poll

By Mark Dunn ,Senior National Reporter
First posted: Friday, March 16, 2012 10:50 AM EDT |
Updated: Friday, March 16, 2012 11:00 PM EDT

OTTAWA - Opposition hysteria over voter mischief allegations has done nothing to dent Conservative popularity, says an exclusive national poll that shows the governing party trumping its rivals.

The Conservatives hold a nine percentage point lead over the leaderless NDP, and are 17 percentage points over the Bob Rae-led Liberals, says an Abacus Data survey conducted March 9-13.

The Tories enjoyed the support of 37% adults polled compared to 28% for the New Democrats and 20% for the Liberals.

The surging Bloc Quebecois lead all federal parties in La Belle Province with 33% support, followed by the NDP at 28%, Tories at 17% and Grits at 16%.

But it's not all roses for Prime Minister Stephen Harper as his popularity is slipping, the government's approval rating is sinking, and more Canadians think the country is on the wrong track, suggests the poll of 1,003 people.

On the robocall issue, 48% of respondents said the issue would have no impact on their vote, while 43% said they are less likely to vote Conservative as a result.

But 6% said they would be more likely to vote Tory, while 3% were unsure. [ . . . ]

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Citizens for Cross-Party Cooperation

http://www.citizensforcrosspartycoopera ... links.html

Citizens for Cross-Party Cooperation would like to network with other citizen groups to ensure that the NDP, Liberal Party, and Green Party address the concerns expressed in our statement.

Visit these websites (below) and add your name to their petitions or add comments:
http://www.citizensforcrosspartycoopera ... links.html.

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Direct Democracy - An Idea Whose Time Has Come

http://www.globaloutlook.ca/store/magaz ... /13_DD.htm

Think of all the vital issues that should be addressed by all governments around the world. Yet despite the seriousness of these issues, very little is happening. Why? Because our current system of government thwarts the will of the people and that’s not going to change until we, the citizens, take back control of our governments from our so-called elected representatives.

[This is the text of a speech first delivered at the Truth Now Tour (9/11 Truth Conference) in Sydney, Australia in March of 2008.]

By Ian Woods

Take, for example, protecting our environment, which the environmental movement has been trying to do for years. Even though a clear majority
of us wants decisive actions to be taken, governments around the world waffle by pushing emission targets way off into the future, as if the next generation can deal with it. What a put off! Just to think, our species, who is called ‘homo sapiens’ – man the wise – is so smart we can conquer space, but, at the same time, we are so stupid we can’t even stop polluting the very air we breathe, the soil in which we grow our food and the water we drink. Other species have learned not to foul their own nests. What’s the matter with us? Well, it’s all to do with ‘politics’ my friends. As someone once said: “If you don’t deal with politics, politics will deal with you.”

* * *

One of Canada’s best known politicians, Tommy Douglas (1904–1984), is known as the Father of Medicare. In 2004, he was voted “The Greatest Canadian” of all time in a nationally televised contest organized by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Tommy Douglas is famous for a
story he once told about one of the main problems we have with our form of Western-style representative government.

It’s the story of a place called MOUSELAND which describes our current situation quite nicely. Mouseland was a place where all the little mice lived
and played, were born and died. And they lived much the same as you and I do. They even had a Parliament. And every four years they had an election. They used to walk to the polls and cast their ballots. Some of them even got a ride to the polls. And they got a ride for the next four years afterwards too. Just like you and me. [. . . . ]

MORE:
http://www.globaloutlook.ca/store/magaz ... /13_DD.htm

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Enduring Austerity to Ensure Prosperity: The Saskatchewan Advantage!

http://www.behindthenumbers.ca/2012/03/21/
enduring-austerity-to-ensure-prosperity-the-saskatchewan-advantage/

March 21st, 2012 Simon Enoch
Economy & Economic Indicators

Budgets rarely capture the imagination of the electorate, and today’s Saskatchewan budget was certainly no exception. This is unfortunate due to the very real choices for the future direction of our province that lay beneath the more mundane economic statements contained in today’s budget speeches.

Finance Minister Ken Krawetz stated that this year’s provincial budget will be about “keeping the Saskatchewan Advantage,” through the introduction of certain austerity measures that are “needed to preserve the province’s prosperity.”

While the need for austerity during times of supposed prosperity may strike some as a contradiction, it does point to the very myopic and fleeting notion of “prosperity” that the Saskatchewan Party seems to cling to. One might reasonably ask what the purpose of all this prosperity is, when we cannot seem to make basic investments in one area without commensurate cuts in others.

Indeed, the very thought of harnessing some of the province’s current prosperity through increased revenues to invest in the future seems anathema to this Saskatchewan Party government. Even marginal increases in resource royalties or corporate tax rates are seen as beyond the pale, as even minimal tinkering will supposedly undermine the fickle and fragile confidence of private investors. Instead we are asked to welcome new spending initiatives with the elimination of others. What, ultimately, is the benefit of this “Saskatchewan Advantage” if we are forced to endure austerity in order to ensure prosperity? Who is the Saskatchewan Advantage actually advantaging? Could the Saskatchewan Advantage be an advantage for only a very select group in the province?

And this is the crucial question. What is the inheritance that we will leave for tomorrow with today’s prosperity? There seems to be no real foresight or vision in the government’s approach to Saskatchewan’s current economic success, as if this resource boom will defy all the laws of economics and history and last for time immemorial.

We have a powerful example next door to us in Alberta of how to grossly mismanage a resource boom. The legacy of Alberta’s “Advantage” is a litany of corporate tax-cuts, resource giveaways, paltry public royalties, decaying infrastructure, threadbare safety-nets, environmental disasters and ballooning deficits.

Despite this dramatic reminder right on our doorstep, our current government seems determined to blindly follow the same myopic fiscal path as our western neighbour. Ensuring a fair return on our natural resources and a fair return from the corporations that profit from our natural resources is the best way to ensure that Saskatchewan’s “advantage” advantages everyone – both today and tomorrow.

Simon Enoch is Director of the Saskatchewan Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

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5 Freedom-Killing Tactics Police Will Use to Crack Down on Protests in 2012

http://www.alternet.org/story/154577/
5_freedom-killing_tactics_police_will_use_to_crack_down_on_protests_in_2012?akid=8429.20699.tTbGqi&rd=1&t=2

Across America many cities and police forces are eyeing new ways to crack down on protesters.
March 16, 2012 |
The First Amendment right to assemble and protest is going to get a black eye in 2012—as it has every time there has been an upsurge in America’s social justice movements. [ . . . ]

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Big news week for CETA as re-count shows 50 municipal resolutions on Canada-EU trade deal

http://canadians.org/blog/?p=14158

By Stuart Trew, Saturday, March 17th, 2012

The week started with former B.C. premier, now high commissioner in London, England, talking to CTV news anchor Kevin Newman on Sunday, March 11 about the status of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. It’s a generally frustrating watch. Campbell repeats the government’s unsubstantiated claim that CETA will create 80,000 new jobs in Canada and put $1,000 in every family’s pocket. Newman mentions the deal has become controversial among some groups and in particular municipalities, citing the Toronto motion seeking an exemption.

How many municipal resolutions are there now? 50! No there weren’t any new ones this week, I just put some on the map that were missing and voila – we hit the 50 mark, with at least two more in the pipes this coming week. (More on this below.)

Also on Sunday, Council of Canadians Health Campaigner Adrienne Silnicki and I had an op-ed published in The Hill Times that challenged the logic behind a Big Pharma campaign in support of CETA called “Protect Healthcare Canada.” [ . . . ]

ROBOCALLS UPDATE: March 28, 2012

Robocall court cases could mean by-elections

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/karl-nerenberg/2012/03/
hill-dispatches-robocall-court-cases-could-mean-elections

By Karl Nerenberg March 28, 2012

Elections Canada may be investigating robocalls and other voter suppression tactics. But Elections Canada cannot overturn the results of an election in a given riding.

The only chance of overturning results of the 2011 election in any of the 308 ridings is the through the Federal Court.

That is why the Council of Canadians is supporting legal actions on the part of individual Canadians to overturn the 2011 results in seven ridings throughout Canada.

The Council's lawyer, Steven Shrybman, explains that Canadian electoral law provides that only aggrieved voters may seek court orders to "restore their franchise." Neither Elections Canada, nor anyone else, can do that. The result of such court orders would be significant -- they could mean by-elections.

"Uncharted waters"

The Council of Canadians provided reporters with one of the seven "Notices of Application," the case of the northern Ontario riding Nipissing-Tamiskaming, where the Conservative defeated the Liberal candidate by only 18 votes.

The "Notice" document points out that Canadian electors have the legal right to contest elections in their ridings if, in the words of the law, "there were irregularities, fraud or corrupt or illegal practices that affected the result..."

If the court finds that the legal grounds are satisfied, it "shall declare the election null and void."

Shrybman is quick to point out that this has never happened in Canadian history, at least not in relation to criminal activity. Previous overturned elections were based on technical issues.

"We are in uncharted waters here," Shrybman says.

In the view of the Council of Canadians, it will not be necessary to show that the number of voters not voting because of misleading robocalls was greater than the margin of victory.

The Council argues that the law only requires that the applicants must show there was sufficient illegal stuff taking place that it would be reasonable to conclude that the results of the last election, in the ridings in question, were not legitimate.

A chance to find out what calls were made, and to whom?

One strategy the Council and its legal counsel will likely use will be to call the operators of robocall companies such as RackNine as witnesses, and subpoena all of their relevant records. That would make it possible to see what misleading information those calls conveyed and to whom the calls were made.

In making its arguments, the Council may also call on a newly published research paper on the possible impact of robocall tactics in the last election.

The paper is called "Does misinformation demobilize the electorate? Measuring the impact of alleged 'robocalls' in the 2011 Canadian election."

The authors are two British Columbia researchers, Anke Kessler and Tom Cornwall, who only published their preliminary draft less than two weeks ago.

Using a complex statistical methodology, Kessler and Cornwall show that "in those ridings where allegations of robocalls emerged, turnout was an estimated 3 percentage points lower on average."

That meant an average of 2,500 voters per riding who did not go to the polls, quite possibly because of robocalls.

The authors readily admit that although there is a literature on voter suppression based on such "turn-off" factors as negative advertising, there is little scientific work on suppression of the vote by means of illegal activity.

It is difficult to conduct a controlled experiment on that sort of the thing, the authors explain, for ethical reasons. Researchers cannot commit fraud to find out if "crime pays."

A clear pattern of diminished voter participation

And so, the emerging robocall investigations provide what may be the first opportunity to explore the impact of what might have been an unprecedented, organized campaign of fraud and deception, designed to keep targeted groups of voters away from the polls.

Although their results will certainly be challenged by some, Kessler and Cornwall believe they can show a clear pattern of diminished voter participation that is correlated with the prevalence of robocalls, and not merely coincidental.

The Council of Canadians did not commission this research, but its legal counsel will almost certainly attempt to introduce it as expert evidence.

The research could help establish a basis for nullifying an election in a given riding, even if the "applicants" could not produce "defrauded" voters in a number greater than the margin of victory.

"The fact is that people who did not vote because they were misdirected by robocalls may not be very interested in coming forward,"Shrybman explains, "They may find it embarrassing, or it may be something they would rather forget. What we have to show is that the robocalls caused a certain degree of non-participation, which had an impact on the election result."

New elections versus criminal charges

The Council of Canadians is not seeking to circumvent the Chief Electoral Officer's ongoing investigation.

That investigation has a different purpose than the court cases.

Elections Canada is investigating grounds for possible criminal proceedings.

The Council of Canadians seeks to have by-elections called where the evidence warrants.

In the case of court challenges, it is not necessary to establish the identity of the perpetrators of possible fraud.

All the court needs to determine is whether fraud or other illegal activity took place -- and on a sufficient scale that warrants nullifying results in certain ridings.

Aside from Nipissing-Tamiskaming, the other ridings where voters are "going to court" are Don Valley East (in Toronto), Elmwood-Transcona (in Winnipeg), Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar, Vancouver Island North, Winnipeg South Centre and Yukon

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Robocalls go to Court! Seven ridings to Federal Court to overturn the Election results

1) A YouTube of the Council of Canadians' press conference announcing the legal challenges.
Click on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ni8C8kfHco

2) CBC Power and Politics, Electors take concerns to Court. Evan Solomon with a representative from each of the political parties (except the Greens). Dean Del Mastro (Conservative) calls the Council of Canadians an “extremist left wing” group! Wow! Is he ever good at not dealing with the issue. Why don’t the Conservatives call a Public Inquiry or Royal Commission?
http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Politics/1244504890/
ID=2216209806

3) National Post Report: Robocall ridings face legal challenge to overturn federal election results

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/27/
activist-group-files-legal-challenge-to-overturn-election-results-in-robocall-ridings/

Postmedia News Mar 27, 2012 – 8:28 AM ET | Last Updated: Mar 27, 2012 11:54 AM ET Aaron Lynett/National Post

PHOTO: Protesters gather and chant at Toronto's Yonge Dundas Square, Sunday afternoon, March 11, 2012.

By Stephen Maher and Glen McGregor

A citizen advocacy group is asking the Federal Court of Canada to overturn election results in seven ridings where telephone dirty tricks may have kept voters away from the polls.

The Council of Canadians says pre-recorded robocalls and live calls influenced the outcome of votes in closely fought races in British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon and Ontario.

The group is backing the first legal challenge of election results since the Ottawa Citizen and Postmedia News revealed ongoing Elections Canada investigations into misleading election day calls in Guelph and other ridings.

The organization’s lawyers filed four applications in court on Friday and was due to file three more Monday, all seeking have the results of the votes set aside.

Related - Links on original URL

Newly revealed ‘Pierre Poutine’ robocall appeared to be from Liberal: Elections Canada

Robocalls company used by ‘Pierre Poutine’ unmasks mystery staffer
John Ivison: Pierre Poutine called voters in ridings across Ontario — not just Guelph

The applications claim that irregular, fraudulent or illegal activities affected the outcome in each of the seven ridings.

All of the ridings named were won by Conservative candidates and all but one was decided by fewer than 1,000 votes.

The Council of Canadians is an Ottawa-based left-of-centre organization chaired by activist Maude Barlow and originally formed to oppose the Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. in the 1980s.

The voter suppression tactics alleged in the litigation include “calls that misdirected electors to the wrong poll or calls of a harassing nature intended to discourage support for a particular candidate,” said Ottawa lawyer Steven Shrybman, who represents the council.

Shrybman said these cases test new ground by asking the court to weigh the effects of a pattern of voter suppression, not just specific acts that have characterized the few legal challenges of past election results.

“We don’t know exactly what the standards will be,” he said. “How do you measure the effect of voter suppression techniques on the result?”

Under section 524 of the Elections Act, any elector or candidate in a riding can launch a legal challenge of the outcome before a competent court. Each of the seven Council of Canadians applications is filed on behalf of named electors in the ridings.

The ridings involved in Council of Canadians cases were chosen because electors came forward and the margins of victory were comparatively small, meaning there is a reasonable basis to believe the alleged irregularities changed the result, Shrybman said.

“We think we have some good evidence about how effective robocalling is but on our evidence, a 6,000-vote margin would be hard to overcome.”

The legal challenge seeks to toss out the results in:

• Don Valley East: The Toronto riding where Conservative Joe Daniel defeated Liberal incumbent Yasmin Ratansi by 890 votes.

• Winnipeg South Centre, where Liberal Anita Neville was defeated by Conservative Joyce Batemen by 722 votes. Neville said on the eve of the election and on election day, Liberal voters in her riding received calls directing them to the wrong polling station, and earlier in the campaign, voters received harassing calls from fake Liberal callers.

• Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar, where Conservative Kelly Block held off a challenge from New Democrat Nettie Wiebe, by 538 votes.

• Vancouver Island North, where Conservative John Duncan, now minister of aboriginal affairs, won over New Democrat Ronna-Rae Leonard by 1,827 votes. According to the Comox Valley Record, some voters in the riding have reported receiving automated calls directing them to non-existent polling stations.

• Yukon, where Liberal incumbent Larry Bagnell was defeated by Conservative Ryan Leef by 132 votes. The Yukon News has reported that identified opposition supporters in the riding received calls telling them their polling station had moved. Elections Canada has interviewed witnesses in the riding.

• Nipissing-Timiskaming in northern Ontario, where Conservative Jay Aspin beat incumbent Liberal MP Anthony Rota by 18 votes. A Liberal source said Rota didn’t want to be seen as a sore loser by launching his own challenge.

• Elmwood-Transcona in Manitoba, where Conservative Lawrence Toet defeated New Democrat incumbent Jim Maloway by 300 votes. The NDP says voters in the riding have reported receiving calls directing them to the wrong polling stations.

Not included in the legal action is Etobicoke-Centre, where former Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj is funding his own legal challenge of the outcome after losing to Conservative Ted Opitz by 26 votes in the May 2 election.

Also not included is the riding of Guelph, the epicentre of the robocalls scandal, where Liberal Frank Valeriote won by more than 6,000 votes, despite more than 7,600 calls that fraudulently directed voters to the wrong polling stations.

If it is convinced that irregular or illegal acts changed the outcome, the court can void the results and trigger a byelection in each riding affected. But even if the Tories were to lose byelections in all seven ridings, they would still hold a majority of seats in the House of Commons.

Shrybman said he hopes the cases will be heard quickly.

“If this remedy is to have any utility, it has to be provided quickly,” he said, though he admitted it likely would take at least a year to resolve.

It would be faster than other federal court cases, however, because any decisions would be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, with the additional step of a hearing before the Federal Court of Appeal.

The organization hopes that it can use its lawsuit to discover the volume of deceptive or fraudulent calls in other ridings, by convincing a judge to order phone carriers to turn over records showing how many calls were placed into each riding from numbers associated with suspicious calls.

The respondents in all the cases are Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand, the returning officers in each riding, and all candidates on the ballot in each riding.

On Thursday, Mayrand is scheduled to discuss the robocalls scandal with MPs on the Procedure and House Affairs Committee.

Mayrand recently offered to come to committee, and was scheduled by the government to appear on the same day that most political journalists in Ottawa will be in the federal budget “lockup.”

The last time a court overturned a federal election result was 1988, when an Ontario Supreme court judge found that the number of questionable ballots cast in the Toronto-area riding of North York was greater than the margin of victory by Liberal Maurizio Bevilacqua. Bevilacqua won the subsequent election.

Nobody has said that they were prevented from voting by fraudulent or misdirecting calls during the election, although Elections Canada officials reported in court documents that angry voters in Guelph tore up their voter cards in when they discovered that they had been tricked.

- - - - - -

Two previous postings on “Vote Moving”:

o http://sandrafinley.ca/?p=4649

o http://sandrafinley.ca/?p=4599


= = = = = = =

BRYANT: ELECTION FRAUD votemoving.com

----- Original Message -----
From: steven bryant
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2012 1:23 AM
Subject: Election fraud, Please read this, it will show you more voter fraud.

To Whom It May Concern:

Hello, my name is Steven Bryant, last year, 10 days after the 2011 federal election my friend and I wrote a paper and made a video about the Election Fraud and posted it on youtube.

Our theory has been proven true with the 2700 same day registration cards were found in the riding of Eglington- Lawrence. The 2700 sdr cards had bogus addresses, some were from McDonalds and UPS stores and a bank and some had no addresses at all1.

I would ask that you read our paper and watch the video. We are maintaining that people voted outside their riding of ordinary residence, possibly without realizing they have committed a crime.

The crime is found in Section 281 (F) of the Elections Act, this is a summary conviction, it is a serious crime; it carries a jail term, a fine and a criminal record.

281. No person shall, inside or outside Canada,

(f) knowingly make a false declaration in the statement of ordinary residence completed by him or her;
We believe that lack enforcement of the law resulted in people voting in swing ridings, when they should have voted in their proper riding. The law clearly states that you have one riding of ordinary residence. Let us look at the Yukon to begin.

How many oil workers or the like voted in the Yukon, whilst having a spouse and a few kids and a mortgage waiting for them outside of the Yukon?
Each person that did that, has committed voter fraud by voting outside their riding of ordinary residence.

Elections act section 8 reads as follows

8. (1) The place of ordinary residence of a person is the place that has always been, or that has been adopted as, his or her dwelling place, and to which the person intends to return when away from it.

One place of residence only
(2) A person can have only one place of ordinary residence and it cannot be lost until another is gained.

Temporary absence
(3) Temporary absence from a place of ordinary residence does not cause a loss or change of place of ordinary residence.

Place of employment
(4) If a person usually sleeps in one place and has their meals or is employed in another place, their place of ordinary residence is where they sleep.

Temporary residence
(5) Temporary residential quarters are considered to be a person's place of ordinary residence only if the person has no other place that they consider to be their residence.

Temporary residential quarters
(6) A shelter, hostel or similar institution that provides food, lodging or other social services to a person who has no dwelling place is that person's place of ordinary residence.

As you can clearly see that every one who engaged in voting away from the spouse and the mortgage and the life they will eventually return to, engaged in voter fraud. Since their employer would have provided each worker with documentation saying they live at their temporary residence in the Yukon, it would have been easily accepted by E.C. and this could have gone completely unnoticed. The Yukon was attacked by Robo-calls.

If you have any confusion about the legality of this I invite you listen to the radio interview from last week. You can hear it by clicking on the link below. The ckuw radio interview explains this crime in great detail.

Dave and I.

Dave worked for Ipsos as a research analyst, Dave has also owned and operated a moving business for the last ten years in the G.T.A.

I owned and operated an online gambling casino in Costa Rica and was trained in fraud management by one of the top fraud managers in the online gambling industry.

He is a retired criminal inspector detective with a U.K police force.

The math and logic we used, were a combination of the skills that we have acquired in our lives.

I know that we can catch each and each and every person who engaged in this activity, using anti fraud tactics.

I would like to leave you with a true story and a question.

For a short while, as a teenager, I lived in Whitby, with Judy and Jerry.
Jerry was my grandfather’s nephew, (uncle Jerry to me). “Uncle Jerry” was very involved in politics and explained to me many facets of the game. “Uncle Jerry” knew of my public speaking and debating abilities and was constantly encouraging me to go to university so he could use his political ties to help me climb the political ladder.

Ironically, one day looking at a map, “Uncle Jerry” explained to me at great length, gerrymandering, which as you know is changing the voting boundaries to gain a political advantage. He also explained to me at great length, Reverse-gerrymandering which is in essence, the vote moving strategy we have captured in the video and paper. “Uncle Jerry” was very familiar with these concepts and so the question I pose to you today is this;

Do you think it would have been possible for my “Uncle Jerry” to teach the Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty the concept of reverse gerrymandering (vote moving)?

Before you answer that, it is important that you know, that my “Uncle Jerry” was in fact, Jim Flaherty’s campaign manager. His name was Jerry Moskaluk.

Again, the skills we have learned in our lives led us to this. Everything was in place to have vote moving.

Thank you for reading my little novelette, and I await your response. 1 604 367 8916

Cheers
Steven Bryant
www.Votemoving.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sennr_y02Ro
http://votemoving.com/radio.html

1. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/03/08/
pol-lawrence-eglinton-milewski.html

= = = = = =

NDP tied with Tories for top spot

http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=11036&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29

March 22, 2012 Blog

According to a survey conducted by the polling firm Environics, the New Democratic Party is tied with the Conservatives for first place in voter support.

Both parties currently have the support of 30 percent of Canadians (John Ibbitson, “NDP ties Tories in popular support,” Globe and Mail, 21 March 2012):

The last time Environics had the New Democrats in first – in that instance, all on their own – was under Ed Broadbent during the free trade debate in 1987.

The tie has more to do with falling Tory fortunes than growth in support for the NDP. The percentage of the popular vote received by the NDP in the May 2nd, 2011 general election was about the same as their level of support in the current poll, roughly 30 percent, while the Conservatives received about 40 percent of the votes in the election, 10 points more than their current level of support.

Why the big drop in support for the Conservatives? The polling company suggests that poor management of recent issues is behind the decline:

The Conservatives are clearly paying a price for the robo-calls affair, plans to increase the qualifying age for Old Age Security, legislation that would give the government information on individual Internet accounts, and increased uncertainty over the costs of new fighter jets.

These issues “haven’t been managed particularly well,” said Darren Karasiuk, vice-president of corporate and public affairs at Environics.

“And they haven’t been managed well in spite of the lack of solid and stable leadership from the NDP or Liberals. So there’s a disappointment among Canadians – particularly soft Tories – that the promised benefits of a majority haven’t materialized.”

April 4th: Robocall Steve for Climate Action!

http://callsteveday.wordpress.com/
april-4th-robocall-steve-for-climate-action/

On April 4th, 2012, we’re robocalling Steve to show we care about climate change. And we encourage you all to do the same by calling 613-992-4211 (it’s FREE!) and leaving this message:

Hi Steve, this is [insert your name], and I’m calling from [insert your location].
And I have a message for you.
I’m calling to talk about climate change.
It’s real and it’s happening.
And it’s negatively impacting Canadians everywhere.
Something needs to be done, Steve.
There is no Planet B,
We have to live with the decisions you make, Steve.
Make Canada a Climate Leader, not a Climate Loser.
Do it for us.

If you’re in the Guelph area on April 4th, join us at the University of Guelph in Branion Plaza (by the cannon) from 1:00pm to 2:00pm for an hour of robocall madness.

Call Steve in our Robot Phone Booth.

Add your name to the ‘I Called Steve’ Chart, which will be mailed to Ottawa after the event.

Get your ‘I Robocalled Steve’ Button to wear with pride.

At 1:45pm, join other students for a group call to Ottawa to share our message.

The entire event will be filmed, and Guelph will be putting out the call to other Universities and organizations across Canada to organize events, pick up the phone, and Robocall Steve for Climate Action!

Hope to see you there!

ROBOCALLS UPDATE: April 1, 2012


[b]ECO JUSTICE - Now's Your Chance[/b]

http://ejcan.convio.net/site/MessageVie ... _id=2601.0

Vancouver | Calgary | Ottawa | Toronto March 30, 2012

Yesterday, our Finance Minister stood up in the House of Commons and made good on the rumours. The federal government is going to use the budget to change Canada’s environmental laws and speed up approvals for “major economic projects” – including Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline and other industrial development.

The exact details are still unclear. But it’s not looking good for us or the environment.

Thousands of Canadians have stood up against these changes and are saying the same thing: We depend on the government to use environmental laws to protect the clean water, air and land we all need. Not to use these laws to speed up approvals for industrial projects that impact our health and well-being.

Now's the time to add your voice to the chorus. The individual pieces of legislation that make up this budget are still weeks away.

Here are three things you can do to make a difference:

1. (Hand)write the Prime Minister. Politicians get thousands of form letters each month, but only a handful of personalized mail. Even in this age of instant communications, a handwritten letter can still make a big impact. And the postage is free. Simply address your letter to:

Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2

2. Make a quick, $3 donation to Ecojustice.

https://secure3.convio.net/ejcan/site/
Donation2?idb=1144990070&df_id=1180&1180.donation=form1

Our court victories depend on strong laws that hold governments and industry accountable. That’s why Ecojustice is doing everything it can to defend Canada’s environmental laws. Will you help us?

3. Mobilize others by posting this graphic to your Facebook timeline.
(Click to enlarge)

http://ejcan.convio.net/site/MessageVie ... _id=2601.0

The number one role of environmental laws is to protect the clean water, air and land all Canadians rely on. Not just for today, but for future generations too.

Please take action today.

Sincerely,

Devon Page, Executive Director

P.S. To learn more about what yesterday's budget means for the environment, check out my blog.

= = = = = = =

SHIELDS: The Actions Of A Bully!!

----- Original Message -----
From: Stewart Shields
To: Prime ministre ; Peter - M.P. Julian ; Rae.B@parl.gc.ca
Cc: Alberta Activism ; Canada's Canada ; CommissionersOffice ; Dave Rutherford ; flaherty ; goodale ; Liberal Canada
Sent: Sunday, April 01, 2012 1:00 PM
Subject: The Actions Of A Bully!!

Any time a bully turns meek---it’s an indication of fear on their part.

Harper’s timid behaviour with the last budget and indeed his total behaviour since the Canadian public became aware of the vastness of Robo-Calls, would suggest Harper is full of fear. Acknowledging his Conservative government must chop jobs and keep seniors working two more years before retirement, cut military spending etc., rather than build the Canadian economy, is surely hard on the Conservative ego!!

Robo-Calls should bring an end to Harper’s draconian government and Canada suffering going further into debt, if opposition parties cooperate in demanding proper actions to determine the truth about Robo-Calls.

Without Robo-Calls hanging over Harper, Canadians would have experienced a much different 2012 budget and a more belligerent and self assured Harper!!

There is little to gain from any prolonged debate on this kindergarten budget that can be changed when Harper is brought to justice. Opposition parties must cooperate to bring-out who indeed was guilty of trying to defeat our democracy---right here on our own Canadian soil!! Harper, is acting like any other bully, knowing very well his actions are being scrutinized by those with more power than he holds himself!! Indeed, his behaviour indicates he has full and complete knowledge of exactly what went on during the election---and he himself ignored electoral laws when a guest on the Calgary Rutherford Radio show on election day!!

After 6 years in power and now with an majority in hand—Harper must be judged a major disappointment with respect to managing Canada`s economy. Other than flying around the world trying desperately to sign free trade agreements with any and all he meets—he has done little to grow Canada`s economy. Indeed agreeing with industry members from the oilpatch that paid for his election ambitions to export raw bitumen ---better helps Texas than Canada. Albertans have allowed Harpers long nose into these raw bitumen exports without approval from the owners of the resource—the Alberta Public.

How we in Alberta miss Premier Lougheed!!

Although offering a free-trade agreement at each stop he has made on international travel, none of the countries he has approach have rush to satisfy Harper`s advances!! With friends like former President BUSH and Israel`s NETANYAHU, it`s understandable most international countries will take their time in any business venture with Canada , unless it resembles the unfair and off-side NAFTA agreement signed by former Conservatives that have managed to miss jail-time!!

Canada`s economy is hopelessly lost as is our international trade with Harper acting as the caretaker of both Canadian trade and international relations!!

Stewart Shields
Lacombe, Alberta

- - - - - -

Penny-wise, pound-foolish

Edmonton Journal April 1, 2012

Re: "Pensions, programs, jobs cut; Flaherty touts long-term growth as budget avoids severe cutbacks," the Journal, March 30.

The Harper government's decision to scrap the penny will save money that is needlessly being wasted.

But this initiative seems to shift attention away from other, more significant budget initiatives, such as streamlining environmental reviews, changes to Old Age Security, an increase in the retirement age for public servants, a lack of attention to urban infrastructure, continued subsidies to the nuclear industry and the government's retreat from its plan to increase military spending without admitting that it erred.

It sounds as though the streamlining of the approval process for large economic projects means the outcome of the Northern Gateway pipeline is predetermined - it will be approved, but faster.

The government's job is to review projects for potential environmental and social damage and to protect that which is vulnerable; it is not to fast-track economic projects at any cost and brush aside any stumbling blocks or criticism.

The Harper government has failed Canadians by cutting corporate taxes and reducing the GST without having a means to replace that revenue.
It was shortsighted and now the government is dealing with its ideologically driven policies of past budgets.

Michael Kalmanovitch,
Edmonton

- - - - - -

Pensions, programs, jobs cut

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/
Pensions+programs+jobs/6383591/story.html

Flaherty touts long-term growth as budget avoids severe cutbacks
By Mark Kennedy And Jason Fekete, Postmedia News March 30, 2012

For the first time since taking office in 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives have put their imprint on Canada through a budget that includes major changes to pensions, industrial research, immigration, energy and the size of government.

The development came Thursday, as Finance Minister Jim Flaherty introduced a budget touted by the Tories as a forward-looking plan to foster Canada's economic strength in the long term.

Although it identifies $5.2 billion in annual cuts to program spending within a few years, the fiscal blueprint falls short of the austerity package that some had feared.

"Our government is looking ahead, not only over the next few years, but also over the next generation," Flaherty told the House of Commons in his budget speech.

"We are avoiding foreseeable problems while seizing new opportunities in the global economy.

"The reforms we present to-day are substantial, responsible and necessary.

"They will ensure we are focused on enabling and sustaining Canada's long-term economic growth."

NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair immediately panned the budget, saying it fell short of what is needed to create jobs, protect the environment and care for seniors.

"It's an enormous betrayal," said Mulcair.

"It's totally inadmissible that in a country as rich as Canada we still have so many elderly people who are living in poverty. Mr. Harper prefers there would be more."

Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae said the budget lacks vision, dishonestly plays a "shell game" on how funds will be spent and harms the federation by off-loading costs to the provinces. "This is a very mean-minded, small-minded budget," Rae said.

Flaherty was interrupted in the middle of his budget speech by a dozen or so protesters - young and old - who were in the Commons viewing gallery, chanting: "Where are we in your budget? This is not our budget!" The T-shirted group was led out of the gallery.

The $276-billion budget comes nearly one year into the government's majority mandate, and the Conservatives say they are using it to make ambitious reforms.

One of the most significant changes is on Old Age Security. [ . . . ]

= = = = = = =

SHIELDS: A Distinctive Yellow Streak Is Forming Down Harper's Back!!

----- Original Message -----
From: Stewart Shields
To: Prime ministre ; Peter - M.P. Julian ; Rae.B@parl.gc.ca
Cc: Alberta Activism ; Canada's Canada ; flaherty ; goodale
Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2012 11:55 AM
Subject: A Distinctive Yellow Streak Is Forming Down Harper's Back!!

A yellow streak seems to be forming down the back of our Prime Minister.

Ever since the disclosure of Robo-calls to the Canadian public, Harper has backed off his draconian stance on many important issues. No more massive prisons to be built with Provincial money is a complete cave-in on Harper policy. We may indeed need a larger penal system to handle those Tories involved with trying to suppress our democracy in the last election held under Harper’s watch!! Now, we have a complete 180 degree reversal with respect to military spending, something Harper proudly portrayed as a Conservative high point. This will not sit well with Harper’s buddy Netanyahu.

The puny cuts to the CBC of just 24 million this year, indicates just how weak Harper feels with the NDP as popular in the polls as Harper’s Tories. This weakness is shown as a strong distinctive yellow streak forming down Harper’s back. The Tories are now back to operating as they did when they only held a minority position. Their language surrounding the purchase of the F-35 jet war planes certainly has changed since Robo-calls and the election of an NDP leader! Ole Sly seems cornered on the possibilities of Robo calls and the fact the NDP are as the same level of popularity with a crapper as their new leader.

Hopefully opposition parties are aware of the fact there is little to gain from the new very timid budget, but we could rid ourselves of Harper through aggressively following Robo-calls and indeed Harper’s performance on the Calgary Rutherford Show on election day!!

Stewart Shields
Lacombe, Alberta

- - - -

Deep cuts to military mark reversal for Harper

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/budget/
deep-cuts-to-military-mark-reversal-for-harper/article2386038/

campbell clark
OTTAWA— From Friday's Globe and Mail Published Thursday, Mar. 29, 2012 4:07PM EDT Last updated Friday, Mar. 30, 2012 10:01PM EDT

The regular increases in defence spending that Stephen Harper promised to lift the Canadian military from a decade of neglect are over. For the first time, his government is not just slowing growth in military budgets but scaling them back with years of cuts.

It means that by 2014-15, $1.1-billion will be slashed from the roughly $20-billion defence budget – just over 5 per cent. In addition, the government will delay the purchase of $3.5-billion in equipment for seven years, allowing it to trim hundreds of millions of dollars more each year.

For Mr. Harper, a Prime Minister who has centred so much of his political persona around building a Canadian military that’s not only able to deploy, but will, the budget marks a reversal. Defence budgets are now going down, and combined with a $1-billion cut to spending growth announced two years ago, the military faces years of scaling back.

The effect of the two rounds of budget trims amount to roughly a 10-per-cent cut from planned spending, more than $2-billion, said David Perry, a defence analyst with the CDA Institute. “This is going to have a really significant impact on their ability to deploy and conduct missions,” he said.

The details of what will be cut were not revealed. The budget said the Department of National Defence will do things like streamline its contracting process and centralize its management of property and human resources, but it’s not clear what other cuts will be made.

The amount the Defence Department has to trim would be equivalent to chopping the department’s entire civilian staff of 29,000, Mr. Perry said. But he said he believes a big chunk will have to be come from what the military terms “readiness” – training to fly planes, operate ships, and conduct operations that prepare the troops to go on missions.

The cuts to the annual budget will get deeper in each of the next three years, starting with a $327-million reduction in the coming year and reaching $1.1-billion by 2014-15.

The government is also backing off its target of increasing the size of the Canadian Forces to a regular force of 70,000 and 30,000 reserves, but the budget committed to maintaining the current, slightly smaller force of 68,000 regulars and 27,000 reserves.

Some savings will come from delaying $3.5-billion in capital spending that had been planned for the next seven years – the money used to buy planes, ships, tanks, trucks, and weapons. The government didn’t identify what purchases it would delay, but will book savings of $500-million this year and $1.3-billion next year from pushing off purchases.

If those delayed purchases do go ahead later, the spending will have to be booked in budgets by future governments over a period of years – at a time when, according to the government’s defence plans, Ottawa will also be paying for multibillion-dollar purchases of new fighters and ships that will take up big chunks of the defence budget.

Plans to buy the controversial F-35 fighter jets were not affected by the current budget, because costs from the purchase will not show up on government books until at least 2016. The budget said only that the government will buy an “affordable” replacement for the current CF-18 fighter fleet.

In all, the defence budget for the rest of Mr. Harper’s term will be billions less than the $21.2-billion spent last year. The cuts won’t bring the defence budget back to the level it was at when Mr. Harper took office, Mr. Perry noted, but they will undo a significant part of the increases. [ . . . ]

= = = = = = =

SHIELDS: The Vastness Of RoBo-call Complaints Leaves The Last Election Results in Question!!

----- Original Message -----
From: Stewart Shields
To: Prime ministre ; Rae.B@parl.gc.ca ; Peter - M.P. Julian
Cc: Alberta Activism ; Alberta NDP ; bill boyd ; Canada's Canada ; flaherty ; Liberal Correspondence
Sent: Friday, March 30, 2012 8:41 AM
Subject: The Vastness Of RoBo-call Complaints Leaves The Last Election Results in Question!!

This Globe and Mail story indicates the need does exist for a far reaching investigation into robo-calls than has been the case up to now.

The Liberal call to investigate their great sin—The Sponsorship Scandal, should be the example Harper follows to clear the air for all Conservatives and their followers! It’s less than satisfactory to leave this major scandal follow all Conservatives until some further date in the New Year. Canadians must be given some assurance their democracy and election processes means much more than that by our Prime Minister.

Fast tracking this investigation to find those who would place our democracy in jeopardy---and having them removed from areas of governing Canadians should be JOB-ONE for this government that claims to be tough on crime!! What crime is more server than an attach on Canadian democracy—right here on our own soil?? Those that heard Harper himself rant on the Rutherford Show on election day know very well the respect “Hang-em High-Harper” holds for election laws.

Harper must show the same guts the liberals displayed by allowing a full scale investigation into Robo-calls similar to how the Liberals did with the Sponsorship Scandal. The vastness of complaints leave the correctness of the last federal election in question. Would we have this draconian majority Conservative government had our election laws been followed by the current reigning Tory government?? The answer to that question should be job one for all elected members in Canada.

Stewart Shields
Lacombe, Alberta

- - - - - - -

Robo-call complaints received from about 200 ridings: Elections Canada

http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/polit ... -notebook/
robo-call-complaints-came-from-about-200-ridings-elections-canada-boss/article2385679/?service=mobile

daniel leblanc Globe and Mail Update Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2012 1:04PM EDT

Canada’s chief electoral officer is rejecting any attempts to play down the extent of the voter-suppression tactics in the last election, expressing his outrage for the first time in public about fraudulent robo-calls made in the name of his impartial organization.

“It’s absolutely outrageous,” Marc Mayrand told a parliamentary committee. “It’s totally unacceptable in a modern democracy.”

Elections Canada has received complaints about phone fraud in the last election in about 200 ridings in 10 provinces and one territory. Mr. Mayrand said the complaints “cut pretty much across the whole country.”

It was the first indication from Elections Canada about the breadth of the complaints of automated and live calls that aimed to disrupt last year’s general election.

“To say the least, it’s unusual,” Mr. Mayrand said of the number and scope of the complaints.

Mr. Mayrand walked a fine line during his testimony, refusing to get into the details of ongoing investigations that are being probed by the Commissioner of Elections, while providing an update to MPs about his handling of the ongoing controversy.

He said that overall, Elections Canada has received 800 specific complaints about misleading or harassing phone calls across Canada in relation to the last election. He pointed out that 70 of the complaints came from Guelph, which is only a fraction of almost 7,000 misleading calls made on election day in the riding.

Mr. Mayrand also specifically urged political parties to stop contacting voters about changing poll locations during elections, adding that it is best for Elections Canada to handle that process through normal written procedures. [ . . . .]

Applicants respond to Conservative Party motions to dismiss election legal challenges

http://canadians.org/media/other/2012/14-Jun-12.html

Media Release June 14, 2012

Motions filed on behalf of nine applicants seeking to have federal election results overturned in seven ridings strongly reject the Conservative Party’s procedural motions. Preliminary matters will be considered in the Federal Court beginning on June 25.

The applicants’ motions argue that the Conservative Party submissions “represent a classic ‘divert and defame’ strategy, are frivolous and vexatious and a waste of the Court’s time and resources. They should be dismissed with costs.”

“Attacking the Council of Canadians is just a strategy to delay the cases and drive up legal costs,” says the Council of Canadians’ Executive Director Garry Neil. “We believe it is vital to Canadian democracy for a judge to have an opportunity to consider the powerful evidence that fraudulent activity affected the outcome of the May 2011 federal election in these seven ridings.”

The applicants’ motions point out that many public interest organizations provide support for individuals who are seeking to assert their legal rights. The motions cite cases from groups as diverse as the (American) National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Canada’s National Citizens’ Coalition (N.C.C.). “There is some irony to this attack on the Council of Canadians for supporting litigation, which the N.C.C. has done for years, because at one time the N.C.C. was headed by the current Prime Minister,” states the motion.

The motions point out that if the arcane legal doctrines of champerty and maintenance were to apply to cases such as the election challenges, it “would impede access to justice and effectively eliminate most public interest litigation.” In a supporting affidavit, Nathalie Des Rosiers, General Counsel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, states, “If the rights provided to electors under the [Canada Elections] Act are not to remain sterile and unused, it is essential that funding be obtained from third parties.”

The motions argue that the affidavit from Peter Henein is in violation of Federal Court rules. They further refute his “alarmist and somewhat paranoid opinions concerning the Council’s motives and relationship with the applicants.... Mr. Henein’s affidavit is the only evidence introduced in support” of the motions to dismiss and “it is comprised entirely of a collateral attack on the Council of Canadians and makes numerous defamatory, irrelevant and contested statements.”

Further information on the ongoing legal challenges to defend democratic rights is available at www.canadians.org/election.

The applicants’ motion and supporting materials are available here:
· Cover Letter to Court June 11 2012
· Motion Record – Motion to Strike
· Responding Motion Record Volume I
· Responding Motion Record Volume II

-30-

For more information, please contact:

Dylan Penner, Media Officer, Council of Canadians, dpenner@canadians.org, 613-795-8685
Twitter: @CouncilofCDNs


EXCERPTS FROM APPLICANTS’ MOTIONS

LACK OF EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT RESPONDENTS’ MOTIONS

“There is no evidence whatsoever that the applicants acted for any reason other than to defend their right to a fair election.”

“... even the skewed and highly coloured record of the Council’s activities presented in the Henein Affidavit underscores the Council’s determination to pursue its mission regardless of party or partisan affiliation... of the three court cases in which the Council was involved as intervener or applicant, which Mr. Henein thought it appropriate to attach to his affidavit, only the most recent concerned the actions of the current government... The other two cases challenged the policies of the former Liberal government in relation to health care and free trade.”

“... the respondents argue that the Council’s opposition to the Prime Minister’s agenda disqualifies it from taking steps to alert its members and others to their rights under the Canada Elections Act, or to support electors who wish to contest the outcome of the election. Thus, the Council’s participation in the democratic process of public advocacy, including political advocacy, would preclude it from taking steps to defend that very democratic process in the face of widespread evidence that it came under attack during the May 2011 election. Quite apart from its chilling implications for democracy, the practical effect of this argument, were it to succeed, would inoculate the perpetrators of a voter suppression campaign from be called to account by the very individuals that are most likely inclined to take such action.”

APPLICANT STATISTICAL EVIDENCE

“The respondents maintain that the applicants cannot rely on expert statistical, empirical evidence to establish that the impugned activity affected the results of the election.” However, no court has held that such evidence is not relevant or admissible “to establish that the results of an election were affected by fraudulent practices.”

“... contrary to the respondents’ claim, no authority requires an applicant to plead the name of every affected voter in order to establish that there was fraud that affected the results of an election.”

“The respondents complain that the Council has a fundraising advantage because it is not subject to rules concerning political party financing. In fact the opposite is true. The Council is not a registered charity, therefore the money contribute by individuals to the litigation fund for these applications is fully taxed in their hands. On the other hand, contributions to the Conservative Party of Canada, which may be used to fund the cost of this litigation, are subsidized by the taxpayers of Canada. Depending on the size of the donation, a contributor may be entitled to tax credit of as much as 75% of the contribution. To put it another way, the effective cost of this litigation may be as much as 300% higher for an elector than it would be for the respondents.”

CHAMPERTY AND MAINTENANCE

“even if there was an arrangement between the applicants and the Council of Canadians constituting champerty and/or maintenance, which is emphatically denied, the existence of such an agreement does not constitute grounds for dismissing an application under section 531 of the Act... even if the Council’s motives were politically partisan, which they are not, such motive would not be grounds” for dismissal.

CANADIAN CIVIL LIBERTIES ASSOCIATION AFFIDAVIT

General Counsel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Nathalie Des Rosiers, affidavit on page 77 of Responding Motion Record Volume I.

“Third party support plays an integral role in the constitutional, administrative and public law adjudication process in Canadian law... It is legitimate for an organization to assist in a legal action that engages issues in which it has an interest, that is in the public interest to resolve, or that seeks to ensure constitutional compliance.”

“... most fundraising efforts in public interest cases are insufficient to fully pay for litigation, and many advocacy organizations engage pro bono counsel or their own staff to complete the work.”

“... CCLA is a long time supporter of freedom of expression. It is concerned with the suggestion that criticisms of a government, no matter how spirited they are, should prevent an advocacy group from later engaging in litigation.”