As Michael Taube opines in today's Ottawa Citizen, it just doesn't make any kind of sense that the Robo-Call 'scandal' was directed from the upper echelon of the Conservative Party (Top Tories would never risk all to steal an election). At this point it seems that there is little doubt that something went horribly wrong in Guelph. Many Conservative spokespersons have conceded that and hope that Elections Canada can ferret out the guilty people as quickly as possible. But to seriously think that Stephen Harper would condone such nefarious tactics as voter suppression just defies logic:
While some party tactics have been the subject of serious debate, especially the "in-and-out" election spending debacle, stealing an election is a completely different matter. The Tories have worked too hard, and struggled for too long, to simply throw away their good name and reputation in one swift, selfish grab for the prize of a majority government.In fact Guy Giorno was tasked with the mission of maintaining a squeaky-clean campaign according to a recent column by John Ivison:
Another Tory operative said he couldn’t understand the motivation for electoral fraud. “Why take a risk in a risk-averse environment? You’d only do it where the risk has a high return, which it doesn’t here. The culture of the party is not one conducive to freelancing. If you do, you get frog-marched out of the door and dispatched for life.” Both said Guy Giorno, the Prime Minister’s former chief of staff, who acted as campaign manager last year, would not have tolerated such tactics. Mr. Giorno is said to have employed a full-time compliance officer to ensure the party didn’t break any electoral rules.Unfortunately the opposition, media party and many left-wing advocacy groups are using this as a golden opportunity to tarnish the image of the CPC (and likely increase donations.) Some are already planning for the next election with the notion of 'co-operation' among the opps and then instituting electoral reform. 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.
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Related
Retraction and apology - National Post:
An article published in the National Post on March 2, 2012, referred to Responsive Marketing Group Inc. and stated that former employees of RMG have alleged that they were asked by RMG to direct voters to the wrong polling stations. That report was incorrect. No allegation has been made that RMG asked its employees to direct voters to the wrong polling stations. The National Post apologizes to Responsive Marketing Group Inc. for the error.RackNine files $5M lawsuit against NDP and MP Pat Martin - Jack's Newswatch (with link to Deb Simms' conspiracy theory which merits a look.) Racknine says Pat Martin defamed company - Stephen Taylor (with docs) National Post forced to issue apology over robocall story - BC Blue Media Thinks Online Petition Is A Complaint Filed With Elections Canada - Paulsstuff 31,000 contacts to Election's Canada on Robo Calls. I think I, and the NDP, might know why. - Alberta Ardvark Something to keep in mind here (as tweeted by Stephen Taylor):
Difference between "contact" and "complaint" is signing a petition vs. detailing specific personal story re voter suppression. — Stephen Taylor (@stephen_taylor) March 3, 2012Dear Media Party - Please take note! The language is not interchangeable. ROBOCALL WAKE-UP CALL - Ezra Levant
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