Is Stephen Harper Trying to Protect Himself From the Robocall Scandal?

For some reason I've always assumed that the Cons were rushing their foul voter suppression bill through Parliament, so they could try to steal the next election like they tried to steal the last one.

For why else would they be in such a hurry? Why else would they even ignore the critical comments of the Con Godfather Preston Manning?

But now Lawrence Martin has reminded me of another possible reason. They're trying to cover their asses from the fallout of the robocall scandal. 

There is a rather high-stakes matter at hand, namely the Elections Canada investigation into allegations of electoral fraud in 2011. The probe, which has the Conservative hierarchy very much on edge, is scheduled to conclude at the end of March, with results likely to follow shortly thereafter.

Because although there are several possible damaging scenarios, one could be DEVASTATING.

A third possibility is that Elections Canada comes forward with strong evidence that the party hierarchy was behind a concerted and widespread effort to subvert the voting system. This would be far bigger than the Senate expenses scandal – all hell would break loose. The Harper team’s fate would be sealed.

Which might explain why even though the next election is at least a year away, they are in such a hurry to ram the bill through Parliament.

Some see the bill, with its downgrading of powers and many rule changes, as a bid to give the Conservatives an escape hatch from any culpatory findings by the agency’s investigation. 

James Sprague, a former Elections Canada lawyer, says the new act can be interpreted as forbidding the Elections Canada commissioner from disclosing any information that comes to the agency’s knowledge as a result of an investigation. Instead, it would be up to the director of public prosecutions to include the information in an annual report to the justice minister.

And why Harper appointed such a hardline Con as Pierre Poilievre to be his Minister of Democratic Reform. 



A bad joke if ever there was one.

Maybe the Prime Minister felt he had little choice but to appoint an Elections Canada slayer. Maybe he fears what the robocalls investigation might turn up.

And what all this tells me is that the Harperites could be desperately afraid. 

Even before Michael Sona's robocall trial starts, and one Con operative after the other is dragged into court to testify under oath.

Because although it's sometimes hard to remember the robocall scandal. It seems so long ago, and it has been buried by so many other scandals.

It has been ticking away in the background like a time bomb. And if it ever explodes.

It will DESTROY them...



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