[There is an important update at the bottom of this post]
A few weeks ago, Andrew Scheer, the Speaker of the House of Commons who, it happens, is also a Conservative MP, ruled on a point of privilege raised by Liberal MP Irwin Cotler. Cotler had been upset that the Conservative Party of Canada, in a telephone-based voter-identification drive, was, in his view, spreading the rumour in his riding that he was either retired or about to retire. While Scheer found that Cotler’s privilege had not been breached, Scheer scolded his own party, saying (my emphasis): “I am sure that all reasonable people would agree that attempting to sow confusion in the minds of voters as to whether or not their Member is about to resign is a reprehensible tactic.”
Speaker Scheer went on to say he was sympathetic to Cotler and almost sorry that he could not find the parliamentary jurisprudence to find in favour of Cotler, saying, “I can understand how [Cotler] and others are seeking relief from the climate of cynicism – not to say contempt – about parliamentary institutions and practice that seems to prevail.”
Well, if the Conservative Party of Canada engaged in “a reprehensible tactic” by “attempting to sow confusion in the minds of voters” when it comes to an MP’s employment status, I wonder what Speaker Scheer will say about this, in which the Conservative Party admits to owning a phone number from which calls emanated during the last federal election, “attempting to sow confusion in the minds of voters” with regards to the location of polling stations?
The complaint filed by.. the Kitchener-Conestoga federal Liberal association… includes the phone number [a voter who received a call telling her of a switch in polling stations] traced.
When called, the number goes to a voice mail for the “Conservative Party.” The message asks callers to leave their name, number and a detailed message and says the party will get back to them within three business days.
Fred DeLorey, director of communications and deputy director of political operations for the Conservative Party of Canada, confirmed in an email “that the number was ours.”
Kitchener-Conestoga Conservative MP Harold Albrecht, reached on Monday, was so surprised by the situation that he called the number himself. He said he found the ownership of the number troubling and the message unprofessional.
[Read more: Crank calls during election traced to Tory office.]
Just after lunch today, party spokesman, the aforementioned Fred Delorey released the following statement, attributing the call directing the voter — her name was Carolyn Siopiolosz — to the wrong polling station was a innocent result of data entry error.
“Yesterday afternoon a reporter from the Kitchener – Waterloo Record contacted us about a person being told to go to a wrong poll during the past federal election. We confirmed that the call came from a call centre that we hired for the campaign, using a line clearly labelled as belonging to the Conservative Party.
We have found that the person named in the article, Carolyn Siopiolosz, was in our database twice. Once under Carolyn Siopiolosz living in Kitchener—Conestoga and the second as C. Siopiolosz, living in Kitchener Centre. The phone number was the same for the two profiles.
The call was made by RMG, which was one of our companies hired to do calling by Kitchener Centre and the Party. Because she was listed as living in Kitchener Centre she was instructed to vote in a polling station in Kitchener Centre.
We made over a million calls on Election Day. In this case there was a mistake. We have corrected Ms. Siopiolosz’s information in our database to avoid this in the future.
We spend the entire campaign identifying supporters and we work hard to get them out to vote on Election Day.
Our job is to get votes out, we do not engage in voter suppression.”
I still have a question though: Why was Ms. Siopiolosz, who indicated that she had voted Liberal in the past, although not exclusively so, in the Conservative database?
A Liberal alleges dirty tricks and has a phone number to prove it?
But wait … she did NOT prove anything. Anyone could find that number and claim they had recieved a phone call from it.
Usually the media says “we could not independently verify this” when faced with this kind of accusation.
Shame on David Akin for making the false and unproven claim that “calls emenated” from this phone number during the election.
Shame on the article he linked to featuring complaints by 3 Liberal partisans.
Anti-Conservative hack job anyone ?
I was disappointed in the speakers ruling, but I did think his hands were tied, and respect that he atleast had the courage to scold his party. His response to this will show if he was genuine in his remarks. I have voted, PC, Liberal and NDP. Mostly Liberal, I will admit, but as a Maritimer was willing to vote for the Cons because of the great way the handled shipbuilding procurement. I now will never vote for the Cons as long as any member of the current lot is an MP.
If some Conservative operative was involced in this, he or she should get the boot.
We didn’t defeat the sleazy Liberal party…simply to become them.
Someone’s head needs to roll if this is true.
Crothers, you need to read more articles, or just this one fully. The women has voted for more then just Liberals, and hasn’t been an active liberal for years. There were 100’s of complaint, not just hers. A phone call was made from a number that was from the conservative party, and it gave false information. You really sound like you get talking points from the CPC. Blame this older lady, call her a liar etc etc.
You should also note that the Conservatives HAVE NOT denied this when asked, and that even Con MP’s are upset about this.
Read all the information before you make ill informed and baseless accusations based on nothing but your opinion.
Two self-admitted Liberal voters, one being a longtime Liberal volunteer, make unverified claims of shenanigans and we’re taking them at their word? You’re representing their unproven and blatantly self serving allegations as fact – who is reprehensible again?
Crothers, The really funny part is that if you took the time to think about your comments you would realise Mr. Akin is not what you would call a supporter of the Liberals, he takes them to task just as much as he takes anyone to task. So to imply this is an anti-conservative hack job is an un-educated, un-informed, false statement.
Shame on you for not knowing the facts and implying this women is a liar. Its a cowardly act to call someone a coward when they aren’t their to confront you. Shame on you!
@Crothers, There were many other complaints about this from many different sources stop trying to hide behind the thin excuses of being framed and demand your Cons clean up their dirty EDAs. The recorded message at the Conservative offices also lied about polling locations, did the big bad liberals hack the phones too? If they are so all powerful why do they keep nominating useless leaders.
Also after the shameless behavior regarding Coulter NO rational person is going to believe the Cons don’t have some ethical issues that need fixing
The RCMP should be turning these EDAs inside out to find out whether this rot is at the EDA level or coming straight from the PMOs Nixonian minions.
Joey there may be 100s of complaints (many from CPC voters too) but there is only ONE woman who has said that the calls came from a CPC number.
Her claim has NOT been independently verified.
David Akin was off base to say the “calls emenated” from this phone number during the election.
The only thing we know for certain is that a Liberal partisan blames the CPC for something bad happening.
No surprise here. Liberal partisans blame the CPC for every bad thing that happens.
What’s surprising is David Akin not showing more judgement.
Brad,
Well said. I always get the biggest chuckle out of the Conservative supporters who on one hand will say the Liberals are dead, that the party will never be back, that Canadians aren’t liberal blah blah blah, but yet everything wrong in the world is because of what they are doing. Every scandal is a liberal Hack job, every reporter who writes a story not praising our dear leader, is a Liberal sympathizer, the economy tanking is because of the Liberals.
It’s ironic that the Conservatives actions since winning on May 2nd and declaring the Liberals dead, seem to be one of the huge factors in the liberals growing strength. For all we know the Libs would be gone, if not for Harpers dirty politics, which is quickly washing adscam out of peoples minds.( well atleast for the few who still held on to an almost decade old scandal that the liberals were properly, rightly and harshly punished
for.)
Thats another reason peolpe are coming back to the Liberals.They admitted wrong, called in the cops, took their punishment, financially, legally and electorally and accepted it, unlike the “do no wrong cons”. If Harper comes out and says, ” yes we used dirty tricks, and I am sorry” I would have some respect for him. I won’t hold my breathe.
Joey also let me be clear.
I am making no judgement whatsoever about whether this woman is lying, deranged, or 100% honest. We simply don’t know.
Neither does the media.
But last time I checked the media was supposed to report the facts and not unproven rumours.
Shame on David Akin and shame on the Anti-Conservative hack job he linked to.
JamesHalifax,
If i read your comment correctly, and I apologize if not, but you are one of the Conservatives who I hope starts making noise. I know in the Conservtaive party there has to be a majority who are upset by thse dirty tricks and ashamed of the way some elites in the CPC seem to be acting.
I truly believe that Harper and his circle will only listen to those from within their party because they ignore anything anyone who isn’t a CPC member says.
So many of the core values of Conservatives are moderate and ones most Canadians can find common ground with, but these sleazy tricks distract people from what the CPC satnds for and more on what they do, which recently looks like a frat house gone wild trying to win the student government election by buying booze for their friends and insulting their competitors.
I was ready to give the CPC a look after the great way shipbuilding procurement was done, but now I can’t ever support a party with the people who run it now in charge.
I hope the majority of the CPC who don’t like this stuff (IMO) rise up, and soon, or the party may be reduced to Kim Campbell levels.
People in the media need to grow up. The Conservatives are practicing politics like it has been practiced for years in this country. Suddenly the media is in high dudgeon because the Conservatives are doing what political parties have been doing for years. Trying to identify potential voters. Can you imagine?
The fact is if the people of Mount Royal who continue to support Irwin Cotler can’t tell his name is still on the ballot at the time of the next election has not retired then I am sorry for them. The next election is four years down the road for God’s sake.
The problem is it is the Conservatives who are doing it. They are doing it better than all of the other parties and so therefore they must be held to account or better still castigated.
Akin and the rest of the gotcha journalists should grow up and report about the things that Canadians are actually interested in.
We had these calls in my riding too. It’s liberals who are complaining because the Conservative party has over 100 million pieces of data in their highly sophisticated data base (Constituent Information Management System) which tells them who individuals support and their top issues of concern. They only targeted liberals for voter suppression for obvious reasons. (they are also slyly promoting and greatly exaggerating the rise of the NDP as a strategy). In my riding liberals also received fake phone calls late at night by highly trained folks pretending to be from the Liberal Party who were rudely demanding money. These calls were traced to the USA and Quebec if I recall and happened in the 21 most hotly contested ridings that the Cons wanted. Disgraceful! There is no way to morally justify these illegal tactics so entrenched Con supporters simply angrily deny it. The worst thing is it worked. Harper got his majority using microtargeting and they may get a tiny slap on the wrist or meaningless verbal lashings like saying it’s “reprehensible” with no consequences whatsoever. A surge of new liberal memberships on liberal.ca is the only effective punishment.
C’mon David
This whole affair is pure speculative rumour at this point in time.
Let’s remember what balanced journalism is supposed to look like and put the tabloid trash tactics on the supermarket rack where it belongs.
Joey,
I am a Conservative supporter, and will remain so. What I do insist upon however, is that we don’t accept tactics that are more akin to the LIberal Party way of doing things. If this story turns out to be true, I’d suspect it is the work of a few overzealous idiots. We don’t need them in the Conservative Party.
Remember, Joey, the Liberals are the Kings and Queens of sleazy tactics….I just don’t wish the Conservatives to emulate them.
Liberal Tactics from the past have been far worse that this story if it turns out to be true.
Remember the Liberal attack ads? Soldiers in our street…with guns…
“The Reform party is filled with bigots and Holocaust deniers……” (that from a Liberal MP, who must now eat her words, because it is clear that the Jewish people and Israel have no greater friends than the Conservative party. The Liberals and the NDP…not so much. In fact, Libby Davies is on record as denying Israel’s right to exist.
Liberal supporters rushing to stadiums where Harper will throw a pitch…and the Liberals -on cue – begin to boo.
No Joey, I don’t approve of the story it it is true, but the Liberal Party has many similar stories of their own…and some are far worse.
Canadian voters had the choice, and they chose Harper and his polices over all others. Here were their choices.
Choose harper: not a lot of charisma, but people know he won’t steal from them as the Liberals have proven apt to do time and again. And the guy is an economist, and that’s what we need now.
Choose Liberals: No principles, no morals, and no compunction about using the dirtiest tactics canadians have ever seen. Say what is popular, knowing it will do nothing. (hello gun registry, hello Kelowna Accord, hello Kyoto, hello National CHildcare……just imagine the hole we’d be in if we elected the Liberals and they actually followed through with their program)
Elect the NDP……..Canada becomes Greece. Slave to the unions, anti-business atmosphere, anti semitic foreign policy, and hundreds of thousands of jobs down the tubes.
Vote Liberal – knowing they will steal 10’s of millions of dollars from the taxpayers.
Vote NDP – knowing they will waste 10’s of BILLIONS of dollars from the taxpayers.
vote conservative – tax cuts, spending cuts, and no money ending up in the pockets of union thugs, or organized crime.
Choice is obvious i think.
All of you people who will defend any outrageous actions by the government because the CPC is in power and you will blindly support anything they do because it’s “your party” are the reason this country is going in the toilet. Have an independant though and don’t marry yourself to a political party and we just might have good governance some day.
Crothers…
here is a quote from you, “Shame on David Akin for making the false and unproven claim that “calls emenated” from this phone number during the election.
You said the claim was false, your words, so yes you did call her a liar.
Second, once again you clearly did not read all the facts. To call her a liberal is just false, read what she says, ” Siopiolosz said she has no party affiliation. She has often voted Liberal in the past, but says when it’s time for a change, she can vote the other way”
So in your mind someone who has voted liberal but will vote for other parties is a liberal. What she clearly is sir, is an undecided Canadian, who doesn’t just vote for one party but votes after thinking about it, not just blindly.
So since you said you didn’t call her a liar, but you did in fact say what she says is false, and since you called her a liberal but yet she says she will vote for any party, are you willing to admit that your description of her is clearly not true, or are you going to say that she is lying about these two things too?
The sign of someone with an open mind is the willingness to admit when they are wrong, since you clearly are, and have portrayed this women incorrectly, are you going to admit an error, or continue to say things unfounded in fact that you can point to. ( FYI a random search of other comments about this shows your comments are almost copy and paste from other conservative supporters, now I am not saying you are a partisan, but your comments echoe those who are, and eerily similar. Are you one of the more than 1000 staffers Harper has hired for communications who seem to be all over comment boards? Just asking, you see I ask first before I make statements that I claim to be true, so are you?)
20 bucks says you don’t respond to the questions without insulting me and/or just not answer them but spin it.
I was initially concerned about this story until I read the CPC response, which makes sense and is entirely consistent with the way that election campaigns are run by all parties. Mistakes happen, especially with a large and decentralized database.
While I like David Akin’s work, this looks like an example of running off with a potentially juicy story before getting all the facts or giving the CPC a chance to investigate and respond. It’s clearly not a “dirty tricks” situation at all, despite everyone’s attempt to tie it to the “reprehensible” calls in Cotler’s riding. Not very good journalism, IMHO.
“Why was Ms. Siopiolosz, who indicated that she had voted Liberal in the past, although not exclusively so, in the Conservative database?”
All federal parties get a federal voters list from Elections Canada.
Frankly, it doesn’t matter if the woman is a Liberal supporter or not. If the story is true, it’s a shameful way to act and someone needs to be fired for it.
I voted Liberal to get rid of Mulroney, but ended up with Jean Chretien. There are a lot of good people who vote Liberal, and a lot of good people who vote Conservative and NDP. The important point being you vote for the folks you trust, and whose policies you agree with. If this story is true, it erodes trust, regardless of the policy. Someone at Conservative HQ needs to lay down the law and remind folks of this. If the Conservatives have good policy that folks agree with, they don’t need to engage in such tactics. I agree with the Conservative policy, as I have a background in economics and accounting and understand what creates jobs and attracts business. But there is a tipping point….the Conservatives need to get a handle on some of these “strategists” before I reach mine.
Elections Canada provides the info in the database. Electors are called if they show support or are marked as neutral. Their was no crime here…
She was Told she could vote at the polling station designated for her old address. Some info ALL parties use is old data from 3or 4 elections ago. Volunteers are just that…some make mistakes…they thought she was conservative and wanted her to vote…….
Volunteer to canvass in your next election. You’ll see what I mean….
jamesinhalifax
too bad you had to go too far. You seem to think the Liberals are the masters of corruption, and think this is a one off for the cons.
Sadly you are wrong. And you also seem to leave out one thing, and I wonder if you have the integrity to admit this; The Liberals called in the RCMP for the sponsorship scandal, people went to jail, fines were paid, electoral punishment was handed out, in other words, they admitted mistakes, and paid the price. Your Conservatives have never admitted any wrong doing.
Are you really going to say that the Conservatives are better then the liberals when it comes to immoral and scandalous acts, because if thats the case, I was wrong about you and you are blindly partisan.
I admit the party i support has done horrible things and was disgusted at them
Will you admit your party has broken the law, lied, cheated, falsified documents, broke elections laws ( all of these are facts)
Crothers,
If you have followed this you will see now that Conservative party ( the one you defended) has admitted they did call this women and they did give her misleading information.( sure it was a mistake) Lets take them at their word that it was a mistake, you claimed she was making it up, you were wrong.
Since you gladly called her character into question, are you adult enough to admit you were wrong, wihich the undisputabe facts now clearly show.
Mr. Akin, she was in the Conservative Party’s database because every single registered voter in the country is in the CPC’s database – they receive that from Elections Canada!
The problem with this whole story is that the CPC may be innocent of the charge and this may be a Liberal dirty trick to pin it on the CPC but no one is going to believe that. When you pull scummy crap on someone like Irwin Cotler it’s just too easy to believe scummy crap was pulled here, too. I support the CPC but this kind of crap had better stop or they can count me out really soon.
This is what happens when journalists arrive at conclusions PRIOR to doing their investigation (or, in this case, waiting for someone else to do it for them).
Honestly, there seems to be a pool of liberal journalists who are like Piranha just waiting for anything that could be used against conservatives to drop into the water.
She may not have been identified in the past. The current record, the one she was called on, may very well of had the correct phone number but wrong address. This is very common in the Voters List provided by Elections Canada. Sometimes this conflicts with previous data, either from canvassing, Elections Canada or the party. The database is very good, but not infallible, because it still relies on data compiled by humans (at the door or on the phone) and often either manually entered or scanned into the system by humans. Ask any campaign how many dead people get called for signs, donations, to vote etc. That’s why good teams who start early, effectively ID their vote and get it out, can do very well in an election. Accurate data is king.