Why Stephen Harper Won't Escape the Robocall Scandal

In my last post I said that Stephen Harper may have dodged the robocall scandal, so far. But he cannot escape the moral responsibility for what happened.

For having created a depraved culture where some of his fanatic young followers obviously thought it was OK to try to steal an election.

But of course there is also the question of CRIMINAL responsibility. Because two judges have now said that they believe there was a wider conspiracy. 

And Elections Canada needs to re-open the robocall investigation, and go after the other shadowy Con operatives who carried out this crime against democracy. 

Voter suppression is a grave crime, even if we don’t always treat it as such. It isn’t “playing the game” or “part of politics,” as it is sometimes referred to here and elsewhere. It’s a grave crime because it is an attack on us all, and on those who have fought for our right to cast a ballot.

Because it is a grave crime, and as Judge Gary Hearn himself pointed out, there are many unanswered questions.

While Hearn made it clear that Sona played a part, however, the detailed decision read in court left a number of disturbing, unanswered questions about who did what and when. It’s fairly obvious, Hearn suggested, that Sona wasn’t acting alone. 

We are left to wonder who, for example, actually purchased a “burner” phone registered to one Pierre Poutine, and then used it to set up the 7,000 misleading calls. And how did the list of non-supporters’ phone numbers from the Conservative Party’s voter-contact database wind up in that person’s hands?

And the guilty need to be caught and punished...



The end of Sona’s trial is no excuse for complacency. It should be the beginning of Elections Canada’s redoubled efforts to find out who else was involved in the robocalls scandal, and catalyze our country’s commitment to aggressively pursue those cynics who would treat one of our fundamental rights with such disdain.

For violating our democracy, our rights, AND our Canadian values.

And then of course there is the question of POLITICAL responsibility. Because if Harper and his Con gang think they can run away from this sordid scandal, they've got another thought coming. 

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s law-and-order Conservative party is working up a midsummer sweat trying to distance itself from the “Pierre Poutine” robocall scandal. But hard as they may run, the Tories can’t hide.

Still, Canadians are left wondering who in the Conservative party had access to the database during the election, and who might have quietly authorized its use for voter suppression. Try as the party may to pin the blame on one rogue worker in Guelph, that’s going to be a hard sell.

Because the scandals are piling up, until you almost can't tell one from the other...



And the robocall scandal will also haunt the Cons all the way to the next election:

Far from turning the page on the scandal, Sona’s conviction can only taint the Tory brand and haunt the party in the run-up to the 2015 election, confirming the perception that the party plays fast and loose with the rules.

As Liberal MP John McCallum put it, “there’s still unfinished business” for Parliament, election watchdogs or the police to sort out.

We'll make sure of that eh?



Yup. He created a culture of corruption.

And a small army of fanatical young monsters, who thought they could get away with ANYTHING.

Even stealing an election.

But eventually they went too far.

And their crimes came back to DESTROY him...



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