Ha! Ha!

Robo-calls had minimal impact on 2011 election, court rules, upholding results

More On The Robocalls Enquiry

Robocalls judge has to balance rights of those who might have not voted against those who did, lawyer argues

"The applicants in the “robocalls” election challenge of 2011 election results in six ridings have not presented evidence of specific individuals who were prevented from voting by deceptive poll-moving calls."

[---]

"If the judge finds that there was fraud in a given riding, and if a greater number of votes were suppressed than the margin of victory, the court should balance those considerations with the reality that overturning the result would disenfranchise those who did cast ballots in the election, McIsaac said."

[---]

"Previous Canadian election challenges have all hinged on ballots in the box that should not be there. The so-called “magic number test” applied in those cases would overturn results when the number of suspect ballots in the box was greater than the margin of victory.

In this case, McIsaac said, the court would have to apply a “reverse magic number test,” determining that there were more suppressed votes than the margin of victory.

In opening his case, Steven Shrybman, the lawyer for the applicants, acknowledged that he faced the tough challenge of showing that there were not ballots in the box that should be there.

Previous Canadian election challenges have all hinged on ballots in the box that should not be there. The so-called “magic number test” applied in those cases would overturn results when the number of suspect ballots in the box was greater than the margin of victory.

In this case, McIsaac said, the court would have to apply a “reverse magic number test,” determining that there were more suppressed votes than the margin of victory.

In opening his case, Steven Shrybman, the lawyer for the applicants, acknowledged that he faced the tough challenge of showing that there were not ballots in the box that should be there.

The key evidence for missing votes is a survey conducted by EKOS pollster Frank Graves, which found evidence that some respondents were discouraged from voting by deceptive calls.

Lawyers for the Conservative MPs have spent much of the proceedings attacking that survey and Graves’ credibility. They argued on Friday that the survey cannot be trusted and wouldn’t meet Government of Canada standards for polling.

Because the stakes are so high (the applicants want byelections called) the study must be solid, said Ted Frankel, one of the lawyers acting for the six Conservatives elected in the ridings."

[---]

"Graves’ poll used a technology called “interactive voice response,” in which a computer prompts the respondents to enter their answers on their telephone keypad.

Graves claims the survey conducted last April found a clear pattern of voter suppression aimed at non-Conservative supporters.

Frankel said the survey can’t be trusted because of serious methodological problems, including its failure to screen out those who can’t vote, including people under age 18 and non-Canadians."

[---]

"The failure to include cell phones in the survey was another problem, Frankel said. He also criticized EKOS for not calling respondents back to verify their information.

The survey found that 39 of 2,900 respondents reported that they had been prevented from voting by deceptive telephone calls. Frankel said, though, that 20 of those respondents had first indicated that they had voted, giving contradictory answers.

Graves doubled his estimate of the number of people who didn’t vote because of “social desirability bias,” the tendency of respondents to give answers that make themselves look good. Frankel argued Graves can’t take that kind of liberty, given what’s at stake in this case.

Some of the questions were ambiguous or double-barrelled and may have confused respondents, Frankel added, and there was no way for respondents to reply that they didn’t know or couldn’t recall."

There's more. The whole thing is coming down to a "he said"-"she said" kind of thing. What it boils down to is this: The left is at war with the right and has decided to use lawfare as its tactic and mud slinging is all we're getting from this process, although my reading of the problems suggest that this case should be tossed out.

Another Roundup

The Robocalls saga limps on

"Hamilton [Ed. Conservative Party Lawyer] said it speaks volumes that no Canadian voters have come forward to swear out an affidavit claiming their trips to the ballot box were thwarted by robocalls.

He notes casting a ballot is a very public activity and seems unlikely that someone who was unable to vote would have kept silent.

"Nobody should have difficulty coming and very publicly saying 'I wanted to vote and I was stopped from voting,'" Hamilton said.

"Because that's the type of evidence that's being sought if somebody wants to overturn any of these six election results, it should be not at all difficult to find those people.""

[---]

""There is a fundamental disrespect right now for the intuitiveness of the Canadian voter," Hamilton said.

"The Canadian electorate is very intuitive and they are very careful. They take their franchise seriously and that is why, happily, some of these ham-fisted attempts at suppression don't work."

[---]

"Eight Canadians — bankrolled by the left-leaning Council of Canadians — have launched a legal bid to overturn the results of the last federal election in six ridings. They allege a far-reaching campaign of voter-suppression tactics may have kept some people from voting, which may have had some bearing on the outcomes.

None of the eight applicants were actually prevented from voting." [Ed. Emphasis, mine]

Not looking too good, is it Maude?

Kenney to name 'safe countries' in refugee system overhaul

I really hope this man becomes Prime Minister some day. He's doing everything I think should be done. And as usual, his lefty critics have their heads in the sand. RTWT

Pravda issues a retraction:


Russia backtracks on stance over embattled Syria

Putin must have been talking with Ahmadinejad.

Who said the Cold War was over? Did I say that??? I must issue a retraction.

More on Russia's rush backwards:

Russia opens second criminal case against opposition leader

Back to the future. Plus ca change....

OMG!!!

UPDATED AND BUMPED: And the NDP break some rules, too.
======================================
Let the mud slinging begin:

Liberals fined for rule-breaking robocalls

Of course, this isn't the same investigation of allegations of Conservative Party supporters accused of similar shenanigans.

And That's Evidence???

"A poll conducted by Frank Graves at EKOS Research, entered in evidence in the Federal Court cases, found that a significant number of opposition supporters in targeted ridings reported receiving deceptive phone calls telling them their polling stations had moved."

Over a year later, they're coming out of the woodwork? Of course Maude and her gang couldn't possibly have put them up to this.

Robocalls...

...back in the news, with CBC leading the charge:

Call centre says accusations of fraudulent voter calls are ‘categorically false’

Pay attention at the 6:45 minute mark and what follows. Yawn.

How the Left Fights...

...or How You Can Tell the Left is Losing:

Fellatio Photoshop of conservative pundit sparks outrage

When they have to sink that low, you know they've lost. Mind you, I'm not sure if they really had to sink in order to get there. All they had to do was bark loud enough and long enough.

Tories say ‘professional agitators’ behind robo-calls legal fight

Sorry, Maude, but when your name is affiliated with a story/scandal, both your reputation and that of the organization you represent, suffer even further. You and others of your ilk are the reason we vote for the Cons.

Robocalls: A year in, report on Elections Canada probe of mystery calls expected soon

But, why wait for that. The Cons have already been tried and convicted by Maude and her ilk.

Here's a hint. Next time, why not wait until the evidence is in and, for really, really effective impact, trot out your complaints right after the supposed incidents take place. Don't wait nine months. That just kinda reduces the impact, not to mention the believability, of your complaint -and your credibility.

But, who am I to complain? The more you open your loud mouth, the better it is for the rest of us. You know the old saw: "Better to remain silent....."

Going Nowhere

Elections Canada's hunt for Pierre Poutine hits another roadblock

Not much has been dug up, other than the robocalls scheme seems to have been thought up by some low level (I'm tempted to say low-life) Tory campaign worker(s).

Thing is, it doesn't matter what the Harperites do with this (these) jerk(s), the leftards are having a hay-day and will, no doubt, continue with the reverie. While decrying the attempt to undermine democracy (with which I agree), at the same time they see no reason to have to wait for Elections Canada to finish its investigation and have already, gleefully tried and convicted the entire Conservative Party.

You see, undermining democracy = bad. Undermining due process = well that's okay. We're Liberal. We can do that.

My hunch is, this will backfire on them.

Lamestream (Old) Media Strikes Again

A thinly veiled attempt to connect the Conservatives and the Speaker of the House (my MP, BTW) with Robocalls fails miserably.

Keep it up, lamestream media. It can only serve to hasten your demise.

Just to Prove...

...that not all Liberals are jerks:

Robocalls Lunacy Continues...

...with some humor (@ 1:46 & 3:26) thrown in for good measure:

Hummm!

The Liberals won the Guelph constituency that is the focus of all the robocall righteous indignation.

The MP is Frank Valeriote. (Warning: If you click on his own website, it's infected with malware. Interesting, no?) Oh, ya. And he won by a margin of 6,000 votes. Some voter suppression.

And the Liberals are using this incident to....drumroll please....fundraise!! Of course!!

"With Canada’s trust in our democracy hanging in the balance—you can still join the hundreds of Liberals leading the fight to protect your right to vote.

Over 715 Liberals have donated $36,905 toward our Election Fraud Watch Campaign. Hundreds more have sent in tips to alert@liberal.ca, filed complaints with Elections Canada, or spread the word. It’s an amazing response and we owe it all to Liberals like you.

But if you can donate $5 right now—just $1.25 after your tax credit—you can still be a part of it, especially at this critical point in the campaign."

Read the comment at the bottom and puke.

"Liberalism fundamentally is the pursuit of democracy, justice and human rights.

The Liberal Party must always be recognized as the party that respects due process of law and parliament."

I don't think so, my dears. This very Liberal Party website page suggests the contrary. But thanks for the laugh.

Massive Robocall Protests...

...in Ottawa,a city of 883,391 people, according to the latest census.

I wonder if they had to bus them in?

h/t BCF

Tories Offer...

...peek at budget.

It's usually a good idea to read the whole thing because sometimes they sneak something on another topic in where you'd least expect it. But on the topic of the budget, here's the moneyshot passage:

"Six federal cabinet ministers gave keynote speeches at a two-day Manning Centre conference, providing a broad-brush look at the March 29 budget that will include billions in budget cuts but also set forth a longer-term government strategy.

Part of the plan is to change the attitude of government entirely, Treasury Board President Tony Clement said.

"The real job that we have to accomplish is change the culture of official Ottawa from one of being spending enablers to one of being cost containers," Clement said in an early-morning speech Saturday."

And what is the hidden part about? Why the robocalls scandal, that's what:

"Polling done for the Manning Centre suggests confidence in politics and politicians is at historic lows.

"This disrespect, virtually contempt, is not so much rooted in antipathy to the policies of politicians as it is in a perceived lack of ethics -- unfair in many respects but nevertheless real -- that most politicians are unprincipled, dishonest, self-serving and untruthful," he said.

"In the public mind, this judgment is reinforced every time unethical conduct by someone in the political world makes the headlines, as in the case of the sponsorship scandal and now the more recent robocalling affair, to cite only two examples."

But one Conservative pollster suggested the robocalls scandal was being overblown.

Richard Ciano, a partner with Campaign Research, which was responsible for making calls into Liberal MP Irwin Cotler's riding last year that wrongly told voters Cotler was stepping down, said the Liberals and the NDP were inflating the issue, calling it a "systematic undermining of confidence in Canada's electoral process and fear-mongering.""

Talk About Exposing...

...themselves, not to mention beclowning themselves:

Robocalls: Thousands expected to rally across Canada to denounce robocall scandal

Whoa! Wait a minute? Isn't Elections Canada investigating this? Do these "thousands" and their organizers know something that we don't know or are they just being leftards? You know the type. Jump to conclusions on scant evidence. Uncritically believe what the lamestream media offers up. Abandon all belief and commitment to concepts such as due process and innocent until proven guilty, etc., etc..

But really, what percentage of Canadians does "thousands" represent? Statistics Canada recently released the results of the 2011 census. We now have close to 33,500,000 people, so do the math. Even if 33,000 show up, that's less than .001% of our population. Ooooh. What a massive outpouring!

But go ahead. Protest. It's your right to make fools of yourselves and we could all use a good chuckle.

Robocalls - What the Conservative Bloggers...

...are saying - Part III

Unambiguously Ambidextrous:---

Are we still whining about robocalls?

"Honestly, I’m not even paying attention. Most of this stuff is just created by the media hype. We basically started with about 1,000 complaints to Elections Canada, which is pretty standard for a country of our size, and when the media trumped up this non-story we wound up with roughly 36 times that number. I’m actually surprised it isn’t larger based on the sheer media attention."

He goes on. Unambig is pretty cynical about it all, which is not good, IMHO.

Halls of Macadamia:---

Instead of...You Know in which he links to SDA. Informative discussion in the comments, too, especially about Elections Canada. I, too, have heard things about Elections Canada over the years, but, unfortunately, I can't recall specifics or provide any verification, off the top of my head. I may have to see what Google can dig up.

And while we're on the topic of SDA, here is the commentary at Kate's site:

An Inconvenient Number posted by EBD.

"...there's another far more important number that hasn't been released, or at least, a number that certainly hasn't been widely reported, if it's been reported at all, a number that the reporters at the CBC and other anti-Conservative media could surely use their investigative smarts to come up with: precisely how many complaints did Elections Canada receive in the days immediately following the last federal election - as opposed to nine months later, after ample prompting - from voters who said they didn't get to cast their ballot because they'd been directed to the wrong polling station?"

And Ezra Levant:---

Sorry, robots didn't highjack the election

"The NSM - ­that stands for the non-Sun Media - ­thinks robots stole the last election for Stephen Harper by calling up Liberals and using their robotic powers to convince them not to vote.

The NSM is caught up in this conspiracy theory. It's become a mania. They've whipped each other up. It's a study in the madness of crowds, of pack thinking.

It's like the NSM's other bizarre obsessions. Like the long-form census that the Tories made voluntary. Or the NSM's obsession with unfounded rumours about our soldiers' treatment of Taliban prisoners; or the fake freak out over a common parliamentary procedure called prorogation; or, more recently, the fake freak out over the right to have gay divorces in Canada for gay marriages performed in other countries.

What all these fake scandalettes have in common is the NSM deciding, all together, that they've found some Watergate moment (Emphasis mine) that will make them heroes and bring down the hated Conservatives. So any facts that contradict their central theory are discarded."

He's right about MSM toadies trying so hard to find their "Watergate" moment. I lived through the Watergate era and observed a distinct turning point. That was the moment at which the mainstream media became the lamestream media. Thereafter, media existed solely to dig up scandal, and if they couldn't find one, they invented one. Every single journalist wanted to be a Carl Bernstein or a Bob Woodward, and they haven't stopped yet.

But back to the task at hand:

From Spin Assassin:---

Pierre Poutine: the smear within a smear

"When this faux scandal started, I didn't know what to think. Maybe some idiot did something dirty to "help" the CPC? How was I to know? How was anyone to know? All we had were baseless accusations and mass generated complaints from the left's smear engines.

I focused on the absurdity of the crime. On twitter I cracked jokes about the weakness of the left wing mind. I recommended a higher protein diet which would not only strengthen the resolve of a robocall victim but also increase the resistance to left wing arguments to begin with.

Then we found out who ordered the robocalls. Pierre Poutine. Now I am strongly suspicious that is a setup by the left. A rogue operative who was tuned in enough to order a sophisticated voter suppression campaign would buy a burner phone with a pseudonym that further harms the good name of the CPC? It doesn't add up.

The CPC is hypersensitive of the smears they are already accused of. They would never make an insulting affront to Quebec culture this way. Pierre Poutine from Separatist Street indeed."

Yes, that crossed my mind, too, especially the fictional, sarcastic quality of the name.

Stephen Taylor has a whole whack of good stuff, especially about the lawsuits flying all over the place. Can you hear the lawyers licking their chops?

Taylor also notes the catastrophic failure of the attempt by the left to create a scandal, accuse, try and pronounce guilty the Conservative Party, prior to any serious investigation:

Robocall protest falls flat

"A signature petition to demand a public inquiry does not a specific complaint of voter suppression make. Indeed, for those looking for the truth in the matter, flooding Elections Canada’s inbox only makes it more difficult to find the needles of legitimate complaints (if they exist) in the ever-growing spamstack. Troubling has been the media’s tone and volume on these contacts as they are seemingly equating lazily clicking a mouse and joining (re-joining) leadnow’s mailing list with the effective filing of a police report."

Moving right along. A new to me blog called Crux of the Matter has several good entries about this latest lamestream media's attempt to manufacture a scandal:
Why the Vikileaks & robocall hysteria

"Without a doubt, Canada’s Liberal and NDP opposition and all those who can be critical of Canada’s Conservative government almost reflexively– have finally jumped the shark.

First, it was the over-the-top hysteria about Bill C-30, the Twitter Vikileaks Account and Minister Vic Toews – although there was little appetite to actually identify the Twitter rogue. Then, there was the Robocall matter.

Yes, the automated telephone allegations are serious and yes, it could be about electoral fraud. But, the entire matter needs to be left to the authorities to deal with — Elections Canada and the RCMP. I mean, the last I heard people were still considered innocent until proven guilty in this country.

Yet, some media have clearly gone over the top with the latest allegations. As John Gormey writes (H/T BLY & BC Blue): “The Harper Derangement Syndrome has taken hold. And it’s not hurting the PM as much as what it says about his critics.” Exactly!"

You got that right, sister. She has an interesting analysis of the Conservative government's accomplishments to date toward the bottom of her post. Makes me kind of wonder if the current kerfuffle is designed to detract from that.

This Conservative got “official” robocall on May 2nd, 2011

"At first I wasn’t going to go public that I too had received an official-like robocall on election day on May 2nd, 2011 between 9:30am and 10am. I found it very odd at the time. But I proceeded to forget about it until the allegations broke this week about the Guelph riding and Bob Rae’s claims that Liberals lost ridings because of the calls.

What utter nonsense! I voted for my Conservative candidate — in a Niagara riding – nowhere near the ridings Rae is complaining about. And, as it turned out, my riding went heavily Conservative.

In any event, my automated caller had a very official sounding female voice. She said there had been a change of polling stations in my area. Then, the call was cut off. No alternative polling information was actually given. I remember thinking: “That is odd.” However, it didn’t bother me because I had already voted in one of the Advance Polls. And, even if I hadn’t already voted, I didn’t feel it involved voter suppression because all I would have had to do was call the telephone number on my voter registration card."

[---]

"However, I wish to make it very clear that I did not complain for reasons of voter suppression or inaccessibility. Rather, I complained because I am a Conservative voter and I am sick and tired of hearing that only Liberals got the robocalls.

In my opinion, the fake official robocalls went to supporters of ALL the political parties, and if any rule needs to be changed, it is the disallowing of any automated calls on election day."

Hear! Hear! Following this, I suspect political parties will no longer use robocalls for any purpose. The widespread disgust people have with automated phone calls, no matter whether their purpose is political or something else, should be enough to convince them that it is a stupid idea.

Update to why the Vikileaks Robocall hysteria

"What a difference a weekend makes. So, all the while the opposition was making hay out of the Vikileaks trashing of Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, the individual was sitting comfortably in the Liberal parliamentary research bureau. Which only goes to prove once again that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones so readily.

Now, we know the rest of the story and a Liberal staffer has offered his resignation. Here is that breaking news from the National Post.

I look forward to equal time and treatment by CBC and CTV, particularly from their political commentators."

You'll be waiting a long time for that, love. Better plan on reincarnating.

CPC won 2011 election fair n’ square, yet media & opposition “stuck”

"I agree with L. Ian MacDonald’s Montreal Gazette column, not because I am a Conservative Government supporter (which I am), but because I too believe that there is more than enough evidence that the Conservative Party of Canada won a majority government on May 2nd,2011 fair and square. As MacDonald explains, the winning numbers are there.

Yet, apart from print journalists like MacDonald, Chantel Hebert, Ezra Levant and a few others at QMI and SunNews, who will write and present both pro and con sides to a story, there are few others in the mainstream media who are not part of the group-think “we-hate-Conservatives” consensus.

Truly, that attitude is irrational. I mean, the only thing the PM has done to the media is way back in 2006, he asked them to get a list of names approved before a press conference — exactly what President Obama has always done."

Pollsters put lie to CPC influence from robocalls

All I can say, is thank goodness for conservative bloggers. Without them we would never learn the truth because we would never be told the truth by the lamestream media. And the left, well they are all about abandoning due process and the principle of "innocence until proven guilty."

Anyway, it looks like I have discovered a few new conservative bloggers who should have a spot on my blogroll. I will be taking out some dead blogs and adding some new ones, perhaps today sometime. In any case, the wheels of justice grind slowly, and we likely won't see the end of this for a good long time. I suspect Elections Canada will have its dirty linen washed in public during the process. I'm reasonably certain this kerfuffle will have a whole slate of unintended consequences.

As for me, if the allegations are true, lets hope all wrongdoers are identified and face the full weight of the law. But don't be surprised if the investigation creates some unsuspected casualties.

Robocalls - What Conservative Bloggers...

...are saying - Part II:

Paul at CAW Worker's Voice of Reason is all over this one. (Emphasis throughout is mine.)

Is It News If The Media Refuse To Report It?

"Media once again running with the newest supposed scandal, this time robocalls. Almost every story from every media source quotes a story about someone named Carolyn Siopiolosz, who claims to have received a call instructing her to vote at the wrong polling booth. In fact, it was reported at the time of the 2011 election, and even acknowledged by the Conservative Party that indeed it was them who called and gave the wrong polling booth information.

So it is more than fair for the media to include that information. What isn't fair, no, what is sleazy and disgusting is what these supposed journalists seem to omit from almost every story when mentioning this incident:

"The Conservative party released a statement Tuesday that said the call Carolyn Siopiolosz received was a mistake. It said the party has Siopiolosz registered in both her actual riding of Kitchener-Conestoga (won by a 17,000 vote margin) and the riding of Kitchener Centre, in which the phone call told her to vote. The party claims the marketing firm RMG, which was charged with placing the calls, accidentally contacted her about voting in Kitchener Centre.""

"By the way, I also received a call prior to the 2011 election, that directed me to the wrong polling booth, stating I was to vote at a polling booth in north Ajax, rather than the appropriate one walking distance from my house on Pickering Beach. Given that I'm a card carrying member of the Conservative Party, and volunteered on MP Chris Alexander's campaign, had a lawn sign, attended two appearances by the PM in Ajax, I think it's safe to say the Conservative Party would not try and misdirect me to the wrong polling booth.

If any member of the media wishes to do a story on this phone call and the possibility the Liberals or NDP may have been involved, feel free to give me a call. In the meantime, I won't hold my breath."

There Were Election Canada Violations In The Guelph Riding, By The Liberals

"You remember, the one where they had an advance poll for students, not approved by Elections Canada, who allowed the votes to count anyways. There were allegations of Liberal campaign literature at the campus polling station. In fact I posted the photos seen here on my blog at the time. I also forwarded the pictures to Elections Canada. The one picture shows a person handing out campaign literature to people waiting in line to vote. The picture on top,you can actually read the Liberal candidates name on the pamphlet that was being handed out. (right-click, save picture, then enlarge) Elections Canada response? No big deal. Rules were violated. Never affected the outcome."

Does Bob Rae Think Elections Canada Uses "Nixonian" Tactics?

"Scott Reid, Conservative candidate for Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington, is demanding that Elections Canada correct an error that may influence the outcome of the election in many rural seats across Canada.
Using his own riding as an example, Reid notes that Elections Canada has incorrectly placed thousands of voters in the wrong polls in Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox & Addington. Many electors in the riding have received Voter Information Cards that instruct them to vote at polling locations 100 kilometers or more from where they reside. Other individuals, who live in adjoining ridings, have received cards instructing them to vote in Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox & Addington. In this case, acting as instructed by Elections Canada would be against the law.

In an effort to correct this, a letter was sent to the Returning Officer on June 13, requesting confirmation that the Returning Officer would instruct Deputy Returning Officers in writing to not turn away voters who turn up at the polling stations closest to their homes. (A copy of this letter is included as an attachment to this press release.) Written instructions are needed in order to ensure that Section 6 of the Canada Elections Act is honoured at each polling station."

Oh my. I'm beginning to think Elections Canada may not want to get to the bottom of this. But Paul continues and it's a virtual gold mine (or should that be coal mine?):

BREAKING NEWS! CBC Had Reports Of Voter Suppression Complaints From Conservative Party In May 2011 Election....

"And apparently some of those calls, which also used an American area code, were traced to a robocall company with LIBERAL ties?"

Yup. There's no telling what they'll uncover.

Pierre Poutine's Real Name Is....

"probably going to be revealed in the next few days. Why?

"Elections Canada’s hunt for the identity of the political operative behind robo-calls designed to misdirect voters in Guelph has led the watchdog to records at PayPal Canada, a company that handles online payments and money transfers."

This is great news. It will put to rest who is the guilty party into those misleading phonecalls in the 2011 election. Whether the individual has ties to any of the political parties or is just a third-party agitator will also most likely come out.""

[---]

"To put it simply, Pierre Poutine is about to get busted, it's not if but when. And when that occurs maybe we can all return to normal."

Too many to continue quoting at length, but be sure to read them:

Elizabeth May's Campaign Manager Inadvertently Reavels (sic) Federal Green Party And NDP Members Had Training In Voter Suppression...

Can A Person Living In Nipissing Get A Robocall In Quebec

Green Party Of Canada Election Tactics 101...Or Robocalls For Dummies

Did The Illegal Liberal Robocall In Guelph Break Two Elections Canada Laws?

Green Party Of Canada Election Tactics 101- Part 2

Next up. Lots more conservative bloggers.

Robocalls - What Conservative Bloggers...

...are saying:

BC Blue:--

Liberal MP caught playing dirty tricks in Guelph with robocalls

"Looks like a big plate of crow is being served to the sanctimonious Liberal MP Frank Valeriotte as a recording of a phone call has surfaced in which the female caller ‘worries’ about losing “a woman having the right to choose” if the Conservative candidate is elected. Valeriotte admits that it came from his campaign although there was no mention of who it was during the recording."

Green Party campaign manager apologizes for smearing robocall company

"The apologies stemming from the opposition parties and media libelling and slandering during the robocall saga are getting hard to keep track of."

Lots of stuff there about the Vikileaks scandal, too.

Blazing Cat Fur:---

Michael Coren & Kris Sims: Glenn Beck RoboCalls A Warning To Canada

Some good videos from Sun TV.

Blue Like You:---

Let's all take a breath

"For now let’s allow Elections Canada to do their work, but let us also keep an eye on those who would most benefit from this type of smear campaign"

About those 'American Style Dirty Tricks'

"Certainly some of the allegations (especially in Guelph) needed to be thoroughly investigated, but the massive pile-on from the left to push for a public inquiry seems rather suspect.

JR has a novel approach – He is using Leadnow’s own form to fight back!

Since the previous post has passed the 300 comment mark, perhaps we can continue the discussion here."

No one is smelling like roses

"Granted there does not appear to be anything criminal here – unethical or mean-spirited perhaps considering the nature of the call.  But it does allow some perspective on a story that most media prefer to skew against the Conservatives –  instead of waiting for Elections Canada to finish the investigation."

Bold Colors:---

Lust for scandal

"Good Lord, it’s the most repugnant and shocking political scandal since Louis-Napoleon carried out his coup in 1851, and President Nixon made a vicarious visit to Watergate.

"Yes, a few low-ranking Tories totally unknown to anybody around the prime minister may or may not have made some phone calls to potential Liberal voters giving them false directions for polling booths. And presumably those voters were so stupid, old or physically handicapped that they could not find the real place to vote, and just span around in sad confusion for hours on end."

Seriously, it defies belief. Not that it may have happened, but that the consensus media is pretending this is particularly important. Politics is a dirty business and nobody knows this better than politicians and journalists, yet these are the very two groups being most dishonest about the whole thing."

Deborah Gyapong:---

Concerned about those robocalls

Dr. Roy's Thoughts:---

Robo complaints

Includes video clip from Sun TV.

Tory base is solid

"Most Tories realize this is another grit dipper pseudo scandal. The opposition sees this as a fundraising opportunity. They have no ideas and most Tories understand this. HM Government needs to continue things that resonate with the base. They should cut the budget, especially of the cbc, get rid of section 13 a and continue with free trade negotiations. The Tory base wants that and will stay loyal. This pseudo scandal should also raise more money for the Tories without even asking. Chantal Hebert understands this as well."

The Iceman:---

Liberal Illegal Robocalls Not As Big Of A Story

"Interesting that the Liberals have been caught making illegal robocalls in the controversial riding of Guelph, but the story is noticeably absent from the CBC Politics page. The big headline is a request to investigate Julian Fantino's election finances. It would appear that confessed Liberal "dirty tricks" just isn't as interesting a news story as allegations of Tory "dirty tricks". Then again, the Liberals are in 3rd place and not promising to cut the CBC's budget by 10%, so I can see where they might get bumped down the priority list."

Is The Media Slowly Uncovering Elections Canada Incompetence?

"Over this past week the opposition and the media have been hammering the Tories with allegations and speculation of large scale election fraud, and their relentless "digging for the truth" may be about to uncover large scale election incompetence by Elections Canada's army of temporary low wage workers. For example, CBC's Terry Milewski reported today on several hundred incomplete or bogus registration forms in the riding office of Eglington Lawrence, where Joe Oliver defeated Joe Volpe (of course you might remember Joe Volpe, who formerly registered dead people to support his Liberal leadership campaign). The accusations that the Conservative candidate was responsible for sloppy paper work in the EC office started flying before anyone thought to point out that Elections Canada is responsible for ensuring that registration forms are properly completed with proof of ID provided before they add that voter to the list of electors. This is not Joe Oliver's fault, but that inconvenient truth is absent from Milewski's investigative report."

Teflon. All teflon, folks.

That's it for now. But I have a lot more to go through, so stay tuned.

Robocalls: Guilty or Innocent?

While the MSM and the Libs and Dippers are busy trying the Cons and finding them guilty, there is this really interesting bit of news:

Guelph Tory campaign worker tweeted robocall alert two days before vote

"On the day “Pierre Poutine” activated the burner cellphone used to launch his robocall blitz on voters in Guelph, a young Conservative campaign worker sent out a message on Twitter warning of “voter suppression calls” aimed at his party  (Emphasis mine).

Andrew Prescott, deputy campaign manager to Guelph Conservative candidate Marty Burke, tweeted on April 30, “Anti-#CPC voter suppression phone calls currently underway in Guelph, suspecting #LPC #elxn41” — referencing the Twitter shorthand for the Liberal Party of Canada and the 41st general election.

Prescott, a self-described cellphone expert, followed up a few minutes later with another tweet claiming that these phone calls were “using spoofed Caller-ID of Burke campaign. I ‘wonder’ who it could be ...”"

As for me, I'm becoming more and more convinced that some group such as Anonymous is behind this. Whoever it is, they are tech savvy supremo. And once again, lawyers are getting rich as lawsuits are being lobbed from several quarters (see tech savvy supremo link).

More.

More Good News...

...from the Cons and our next Prime Minister:

'Birth Tourism' May Change Citizenship Rules

"The Harper government is considering changes to the citizenship rules to target so-called birth tourism — where a foreign national comes to Canada to give birth so the baby can get Canadian citizenship.

But critics say closing the loophole will deter bona fide immigrants and harm the economy in the long run."

Bit by bit, we're turning back the Liberal Party legacy. And you wonder why the Robocalls thing gets no traction. It's quite simple. There's too much work to do and this robocalls thing just smacks of sour grapes. When the opponents are reduced to those lame arguments, as illustrated by the "critics", you know we're on the right path.