Saturday, March 31, 2012 

TRUDEAU VS BRAZEAU - (FULL FIGHT - COMBAT COMPLET)



This probably won't be up for long ... from LCN .. en francais ... (you don't have to listen to Ezra Levant or Lilley).

posted by leftdog at Saturday, March 31, 2012 | |

 

"Quit Slouching! - You're Not 67 Yet"


'Say Goodbye To OAS At 65


Cartoon by kind permission of
Graeme MacKay at mackaycartoons.net

posted by leftdog at Saturday, March 31, 2012 | |

Friday, March 30, 2012 

Demise Of The Penny Will See An Increase In Most Prices As Everything Gets 'Rounded Up'


At the moment in Canada, pricing of any item or service allows the seller to divide the dollar price into 100 individual units of currency known as a 'penny' or a 'cent'. The federal Conservatives are abolishing the penny and the new minimum unit of Canadian currency will be the 5 Cent 'Nickel'.

We are told that prices will simply be rounded up or down to accommodate the loss of the penny as a tool in the market place. Trust me, NO PRICES TO THE CONSUMER WILL EVER BE ROUNDED DOWN.

For example ... if your desired item costs $2.51 it will go up to $2.55. Same thing if the price is $2.52. You'll get rounded up to $2.55. There are no businesses in Canada that are going to round anything 'down' because the loss of 1 or 2 or 3 cents a unit, multiplied by thousands of units sold can add up and reduce profit.

In simple terms, and not to belabour the issue, Stephen Harper has allowed a small retail price increase of 2 or 3 cents on billions of Canadian consumer transactions.

It may only be a couple of cents here - a couple of cents there .... but once again .... YOU GET GOUGED.

It's the 'Capitalist Way'!

posted by leftdog at Friday, March 30, 2012 | |

Thursday, March 29, 2012 

Saskatchewan Conservative Member of Parliament Says Hand Guns Should Be Given To All Teenage Girls!


"(Garry Breitkreuz) told a classroom of Ottawa high school students — some as young as 14 — that all Canadians should carry firearms, and girls in particular should be armed to protect themselves from sexual assault."
Ottawa Citizen

posted by leftdog at Thursday, March 29, 2012 | |

 

HEY HARPER!! Where's All The Jobs That Your Billions In Corporate Tax Cuts Were Promised To Create?


Federal Budget .... Blah blah blah ... Harper ... you're HORRIBLE! Giving Billions of dollars to Big Corporations = who simply moved the cash off shore or are sitting on it as 'retained earnings'.

So now you'll screw with Canada's working people. You'll screw with Old Age Security!

You're terrible. Your cheating ... your dishonesty is going to see you out of power in 3 & 1/2 years ...

posted by leftdog at Thursday, March 29, 2012 | |

Wednesday, March 28, 2012 

Brad Wall's Closed Mind Closes Door On Sask Film Industry And Drives Hundreds Of Jobs Out Of The Province


"The puzzling thing about Brad Wall's decision to cut the film tax credit (albeit, after a three month extension to July 1) is the unusual stridency we're hearing from the Saskatchewan premier.

After all, this is a premier who has gone to great lengths to distance himself from policy positions that would politically label him. Wall has repeatedly told us it's not about right or left - it's about up or down. In fact, Wall's political charm/success has been intertwined with his ability to come across as something other than a strident, uncompassionate conservative. And given Tuesday's news from Angus Reid polling that suggests Wall still leads all premiers with a 70-per-cent approval rating, the formula still seems to work.

It's also why you so seldom hear a strident political statement from him like last week's tweet on the film industry that stated: "If an industry cannot survive at all without a permanent taxpayer subsidy, should the taxpayers subsidize indefinitely?"

So why does Wall now seem so set on eliminating "grants" (as he now calls them) to the film industry? Even if Wall's argument that the film tax is really an up-front grant rather than a true "tax credit" is more valid than hair-splitting, it would seem an odd argument for the premier to make. He also says he fully understands why such upfront money was needed by the film industry for financing productions and that his Saskatchewan Party government is open to considering direct film grants anyway.

Yet Monday, we witnessed Wall's staff spinning out stories on the need to stop film tax credits across North America even as he was meeting with film industry officials. Why so strident? What else might be behind Wall's position? Well, some of it likely relates to his personality.

For one thing, it was a tough budget where the Sask. Party (at least from Wall's perspective) is simultaneously being criticized for not cutting enough and cutting too much. It's human nature for politicians to become excessively defensive to such criticism. And Wall is truly defensive to criticism - especially when you also factor in the usual political paranoia. (i.e. The film industry is aligned with the NDP and is out to embarrass him.)

Finally, most politicians have an inherent stubbornness that refuses to acknowledge they might be wrong. Wall is certainly no exception. For all his self-deprecation as premier, what you haven't ever heard him say in four-plus years is that he's so far been wrong about a government policy. (Heck, Lorne Calvert reversed increased care home fees to seniors.)

But perhaps the biggest failing in this debate - one that might actually be shared by both Wall and the film industry - is that there just hasn't been enough listening.

This is obviously an issue for Wall, who has simply brushed aside the industry's argument that hundreds of jobs and millions in economic activity are at stake with this decision. Wall has simply ignored the contention that there has been $600 million of economic activity generated by the film industry - a six-to-one return on investment .

But rather than protest, the film industry needs to take a better approach than hectoring or lecturing Wall. If Wall can't relate to the need for local production and the nature in which it's traditionally been funded, he can surely relate to the industry's economic impact. There are hundreds of businesses out there - car rentals, lumber yards, clothing stores, restaurants, etc. - that can surely attest to the benefit of a strong film industry.

For example, Sonja Clifton-Remple from Swift Current was eager to get out of this province until she discovered 15 years ago she could pursue a career in costume design here. As the costume designer for the TV series Insecurity, Clifton-Remple said she purchased $100,000 worth of clothing, locally, for this show alone. The movie Just Friends, also dropped about $100,000 on clothing, locally, and even a small movie like the yet-to-be released zombie horror flick 13 Eerie bought $14,000 worth of clothes here.

One such beneficiary has been Tammy Beltrani of Aria Boutique - a high-end Regina women's clothing store. "When a costume designer walks into your store, it's a very, very good day," said Beltrani, who not only saw $8,000 purchases for shows like Insecurity, but has maintained some of these customers through her online business.

The film industry still needs to make its case. But it won't do much good unless Wall listens with an open mind to what they have to say."
Murray Mandryk
Political columnist for the Leader-Post.
© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post

posted by leftdog at Wednesday, March 28, 2012 | |

Tuesday, March 27, 2012 

As Harper Prepares Attack Ads To Paint The NDP As Fiscally 'Risky' We Find New Brunswick CONSERVATIVES Driving Provincial Debt Up To $11 Billion ...

Unfortunately there are no 'truth in advertising' regulations when it comes to political attack ads. As I post this, Stephen Harper's propaganda-meisters are preparing TV ads that are going to carry the theme of 'NDP fiscal irresponsibility'.

'New Brunswick delivers spring budget, forecasting debt to hit nearly $11 billion' - Canadian Press story - Winnipeg Free Press

posted by leftdog at Tuesday, March 27, 2012 | |

 

Attack On NDP Leadership Voting System Was Massive And Well Organized

Well over 10,000 computers used in attack on NDP leadership vote
"The company that organized the electronic voting system at the NDP leadership convention is now blaming an orchestrated attack involving tens of thousands of computers for the delays that marred the election of a new party leader.

While only a few thousand NDP members chose to use the electronic voting system on Saturday, the website was hit by hundreds of thousands of Internet requests that “jammed up the pipe,” Scytl Canada said in a news release"
The Globe & Mail

posted by leftdog at Tuesday, March 27, 2012 | |

 

Brad Wall INSISTS On Driving Film Industy Jobs And Investment Out Of Saskatchewan Based On Pure Right Wing Ideology

Brad Wall continues to amaze. His small minded mentality is driving the film industry from the province of Saskatchewan. In spite of rational and logical arguments to the contrary, Wall has decided to kill hundreds of jobs and drive both companies and film industry workers out of the province.

There is only one reason that Wall is doing this. While the Saskatchewan Party was lost in the wasteland of Opposition, they fought the implementation of the province's Film Tax Credit tooth and claw. While the former New Democratic government was implementing a tax credit plan similar to what exists in 8 other provinces, the Sask Party ran around spouting the typical right wing rhetoric about 'subsidizing business' and 'picking winners and losers'.

There is no good reason for Mr Wall to dismantle Saskatchewan's Film Tax Credit ... other than he didn't support it at its implementation.

Brad Wall is driving companies, jobs and investment out of the province.

Simply idiotic!

"What's likely worse is listening only to the philosophically petty or equally self-serving justifications that seem to be either driving or validating the Wall government's yet-to-be justified decision.

Even worse than that is the damage being done to the province's image. Really, is it not a problem when the major international stories emerging out of this province in the past week were the attempt by liquor and gaming inspectors to ban Chippendale dancers at a breast cancer fundraiser and the decision to become about the only jurisdiction in North American without a film tax credit? Is this the cosmopolitan "new Saskatchewan" that's trying to attract investors and foreign workers?"
-Regina Leader-Post

-The Prairie Dog Blog has more ....

-Canadian comedian Brent Butt slams Brad Wall's attack on Saskatchewan Film industry ....

posted by leftdog at Tuesday, March 27, 2012 | |

Monday, March 26, 2012 

The Bumpkins And Hicks Who Run The Government Of Saskatchewan


Don't think for even one minute that Premier Brad Wall has any reasonable idea of what he is doing with his operation of the provincial government. Since they assumed government, the humorless, visionless Saskatchewan Party bumpkins have limped from one idiotic policy decision to the next.

Here's a couple of samples:

1). Coyote Bounty:
Brad Wall decided to pay farmers a cash bounty to shoot every single coyote that they see on the open prairie. This was a popular move by Mr. Wall because it allowed a bunch of gun happy yahoos to drive around in their half ton trucks and wage war against any wild coyote they could find. The program paid Saskatchewan farmers $20 bucks a head for each one that they eliminated. After a few months of the program, 23,000 coyotes had been shot or trapped.

However, having killed so many coyotes, it seems that the province's rodent 'gopher' population exploded. The Wall government found itself with a massive rural infestation of rodent vermin that the coyotes previously controlled.

So, in typical Brad Wall logic, his administration started paying rural municipalities to eradicate the rodents. It's too bad that the Wall government weren't able to make the connection between coyotes and gophers. Coyotes are nature's way of controlling gophers!

In their zeal to put whatever money they can into the hands of their rural voting base, the Saskatchewan Party compounded the problem. In hindsight, Brad Wall has now dropped the cash bounty paid on coyote eradication.

2). Film Tax Credit
Over the last many years, the Province of Saskatchewan contributed about $100 Million to the local film industry by means of a film tax credit. Every province except PEI, has a film tax credit in order to keep their local film industry competitive. This $100 Million investment brought a return of about $700 Million back to the Saskatchewan economy.

Mr. Wall has now decided to dip into the well of Reform Party ideology and has cut the Film Tax Credit.

Say goodbye to that industry. Finished. Done

Hillbillies live not only in the Ozark Mountains of the US South. No. A Canadian version resides in the halls of power in the Saskatchewan Legislature.

posted by leftdog at Monday, March 26, 2012 | |

Saturday, March 24, 2012 

Thomas Mulcair Is The Leader Of The New Democratic Party Of Canada And I Support Him Completely!


Thomas Mulcair
Leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada

posted by leftdog at Saturday, March 24, 2012 | |

Friday, March 23, 2012 

BRIAN TOPP FOR LEADER Of Canada's New Democrats!!



Brian Topp is the BEST choice for Leader of Canada's New Democrats!

posted by leftdog at Friday, March 23, 2012 | |

 

Early Morning Scenes From NDP Leadership Convention







Photos courtesy: @MarcLaferriere - @ValckeNDP - @kady

posted by leftdog at Friday, March 23, 2012 | |

 

Premier Brad Wall Accidentally Asks Very Pertinent Question About Subsidies To Potash Industry



Originally blogged by John Cameron at The Dog Blog ....

posted by leftdog at Friday, March 23, 2012 | |

Thursday, March 22, 2012 

People Need To Understand That Harper Is Not Going To Be Prime Minister Forever ....


... and the Liberals aren't coming back just yet. My vote for Leader of Canada's New Democrats is going to be made very carefully this weekend.

National Post: -Signs Show Conservatives Popularity Beginning To Slip

posted by leftdog at Thursday, March 22, 2012 | |

Wednesday, March 21, 2012 

Is Speaker Andrew Scheer In A Conflict Of Interest On RoboCalls Issue In Guelph?

I am not at all comfortable with House of Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer making any rulings or decisions that have a bearing on the RoboCalls scandal. For whatever reason, Speaker Scheer has tied himself to the Guelph Riding with some cash. Optics are terrible ....

"The political machine behind the man who is now Speaker of the House of Commons opened its wallet for the Guelph Conservative campaign currently under scrutiny by Election Canada’s robo-calls probe, records at the watchdog agency show.

Less than two weeks before the 2011 election, Andrew Scheer’s Regina-Qu’Appelle riding association in Saskatchewan transferred $3,000 to the Guelph Conservative campaign for candidate Marty Burke."
Globe & Mail

posted by leftdog at Wednesday, March 21, 2012 | |

Saturday, March 17, 2012 

Happy St. Patrick's Day To My Friends And Family!

posted by leftdog at Saturday, March 17, 2012 | |

Wednesday, March 14, 2012 

How Facebook's Geotag Photo Feature Helped The Taliban Destroy Four American Apache Helicopters

The US Army has warned snap-happy soldiers of the dangers of geo-tagging photos after such information was used by enemies to locate and destroy four Apache helicopters.

The 2007 incident was recounted by US Army Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE) intelligence officer Steve Warren in a statement warning.

“A new fleet of helicopters arrived with an aviation unit at a base in Iraq [and] some soldiers took pictures on the flightline … from the photos that were uploaded to the internet, the enemy was able to determine the exact location of the helicopters inside the compound and conduct a mortar attack, destroying four of the AH-64 Apaches,” Warren said.

"If a soldier uploads a photo taken on his or her smartphone to Facebook, they could broadcast the exact location of their unit. Longitude and latitude coordinates in geotagged photos were sufficiently accurate to compromise solider positions. Facebook's timeline exacerbated the problem because it places photos taken by users on a map."
Staff Sergeant Dale Sweetnam
Online and Social Media Division
SC Magazine.com

posted by leftdog at Wednesday, March 14, 2012 | |

 

Saskatchewan Party Government Stonewalling On Cost Estimates To Implement Omnibus Crime Bill

"If you throw a rock into the night and you hear a dog yelp ... you hit the dog"

Bingo. Saskatchewan residents can now be assured that Premier Brad Wall is desperately scrambling to find the tens of millions of tax dollars needed to implement Ottawa's Bill C - 10, The Omnibus Crime Bill.

During Question Period today in the Saskatchewan Legislature, a direct question was made to the Minister of Finance by Trent Wotherspoon, NDP Finance Critic on what the estimated cost of the Bill is for the province. The Minister of Finance would not rise to answer. Justice Minister Don Morgan rose to his feet and delivered a patented piece of political spin that could have been composed by Vic Toews himself.

Repeated attempts by the Opposition to ask the Finance Minister a question concerning the cost to the province were all responded to by Morgan.

Brad Wall does not have the money to pay for Bill C-10. Saskatchewan's government is desperately trying to scrape together tens of millions of tax dollars to pay the costs without criticizing Stephen Harper for downloading on the province.


-Global TV: Sask. government says federal crime bill will cost money, but won't guess how much!

posted by leftdog at Wednesday, March 14, 2012 | |

Tuesday, March 13, 2012 

Saskatchewan Has No Idea What Harper's Omnibus Crime Bill Will Cost


Saskatchewan's Justice Minister, Don Morgan told the Legislature that he has absolutely no idea what the cost to the province will be to implement Ottawa's Bill C10 - The Omnibus Crime Bill.

I find it amazing that Saskatchewan's Justice and Finance departments have been sitting on their hands over the last year as this federal legislation was bantered around in Ottawa.

We simply can't believe Don Morgan.

I suspect that, in fact, Saskatchewan does have an estimate of the costs. The problem for Saskatchewan taxpayers is that Brad Wall and his Sask Party government are long time apologists and boosters of Stephen Harper. I suspect that they do, in fact, have a good idea of the costs. The cost will be high.

Brad Wall has hinted that some big program cuts are coming in the next budget. By connecting the dots, it is not a big leap to guess that Wall is scrambling around to find the millions that are going to be needed to implement C-10. If that's what's looming, then Mr. Wall may believe it's politically unwise to disclose the cost estimates at this time.

We will have to wait until the 'omnibus costs' turn up in the Public Accounts of the province, a long way down the road.

Don Morgan needs to do better. What's the estimate?

posted by leftdog at Tuesday, March 13, 2012 | |

Sunday, March 11, 2012 

Sask New Democrats Will Select New Leader In Spring 2013


Saskatchewan New Democrats will choose a new leader early in 2013. The decision to hold a leadership convention in February/March 2013 in Saskatoon was made at a party provincial council meeting this weekend. The exact date of the leadership convention, as well as the official start date of the race, will be announced in the coming weeks.

Similar to the last two conventions, the NDP will use a one-member, one-vote process to select the next leader. Party members will also be able to participate in the leadership selection process in a number of ways including online, by phone, mail-in-ballot or in person at the leadership convention. Anyone with a valid 2013 NDP membership will be able to vote for the new leader.

Previous Leaders of the Saskatchewan NDP were Tommy Douglas, Woodrow Lloyd, Alan Blakeney, Roy Romanow, Lorne Calvert and Dwain Lingenfeler.


-CBC Saskatchewan has more ...

posted by leftdog at Sunday, March 11, 2012 | |

Saturday, March 10, 2012 

The Bombastic Nature Of Stephen Harper


"Two secret meetings in the prime minister’s office this month should become chapters in any crisis communications manual.

One is the wrong way to handle major problem files. The other highlights the correct response to big bad political news.

Shortly after the Robocall scandal broke, aides advised Stephen Harper to appear dutifully concerned and pledge full cooperation with any Elections Canada investigation.

He refused, angrily vowing to remain aloof and deliver a full-on head-banging assault against his House of Commons adversaries.

The prime minister then went forth and called them sore losers, blamed other parties for being Robo-culprits and dismissed all allegations of electoral funny business as a baseless, fabricated, opposition smear job.

He even demanded the Liberals surrender all their documentation while his party defiantly refused to cough up their records. Their bizarre rationale? Well, the Conservatives did nothing wrong, so why should they?

But as this controversy dragged on and Harper found himself unleashing a few erroneous smears of his own, another meeting was held.

This week Harper assembled all party insiders who would know everything about its election tactics. He went around the table and demanded they come clean if they knew of any dirty tricks. No confessions were forthcoming.

That’s when Harper suddenly changed the tone and his tactics. He throttled back partisan hostility and dropped the government’s opposition to an Elections Canada request for enhanced investigative powers. He even pledged to surrender his party’s records for the probe."
CTV.ca

posted by leftdog at Saturday, March 10, 2012 | |

Friday, March 09, 2012 

Billions And Billions In Corporate Tax Cuts From The Harper Government To Big Business Has Given Us .... Job Losses!?


Stephen Harper's ideologically driven corporate tax cuts have been a complete failure. After stoking the engines of big business with Billions and Billions of dollars in tax cuts, Canada has seen a decrease in jobs. The Canadian Corporate world is sitting on hundreds of Billions of 'Retained Earnings' that are NOT stimulating the Canadian economy. It's time to start taxing these free-loaders rather than boosting their profit margins with the hard earned tax dollars of average wage earners!

"Employment growth in Canada has stalled since the middle of last year. Youth in particular have been hit hard, with their jobless rate hitting 14.7 per cent in February amid five straight months of employment declines."
Globe & Mail

posted by leftdog at Friday, March 09, 2012 | |

Thursday, March 08, 2012 

It Should Be By-Election Time In Eglington Lawrence Riding ...


Hundreds of questionable votes were cast in Eglington Lawrence Riding in Toronto.

posted by leftdog at Thursday, March 08, 2012 | |

Tuesday, March 06, 2012 

Conservatives Didn’t Declare Payments Made To Robocalls Company, Can’t Explain To Elections Canada Why Not

(Click on image to enlarge) ....

"OTTAWA — Elections Canada investigators probing the robocalls scandal are interviewing workers on the Conservative campaign in Guelph, Ont., and trying to determine why payments made to an Edmonton voice-broadcasting company were not declared in financial reports filed with the agency.

In recent days, the agency has spoken to at least three workers from the campaign of Conservative candidate Marty Burke, including the official agent responsible for ensuring the campaign’s financial report was accurate.

Elections Canada wants to know why the costs of automated calls the campaign has admitted sending out never appeared in the campaign’s expense report, as required by law.

Andrew Prescott, the deputy campaign manager, said he is co-operating with the investigation and handing over bills he received from RackNine Inc. for a series of robocalls promoting Burke events during the election.

The same company was used to transmit misleading Elections Canada calls on election day.
Glen McGregor and Stephen Maher
National Post

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives are refusing to publicly release phone records related to their telemarketing in the last election, despite insisting that the Liberal party should take this action with its own records.

Opposition parties quickly reacted Monday by accusing the Tories of adopting a bizarre double standard as the government tries to quell the growing robocall controversy over whether someone systematically harassed and misled voters into going to the wrong polling stations in last year's election.

The development occurred as Harper's parliamentary secretary, Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro, warded off questions in the House of Commons by flatly alleging that it was the Liberals -- not the Tories -- who were responsible for "each and every one" of the calls that have now spawned thousands of complaints from voters and an investigation by Elections Canada.

Since the robocall controversy broke nearly two weeks ago through a story by Postmedia News and the Ottawa Citizen, opposition parties have been grilling the governing Conservatives in the Commons over whether the Conservatives had any role in the affair.

Harper, his campaign chair and Del Mastro have all said the Tory campaign was not involved."
-Tories won't make records public but demand Liberals release theirs -Winnipeg Free Press

posted by leftdog at Tuesday, March 06, 2012 | |

 

Brad Wall And His Saskatchewan Party Appeal Court Ruling On A Persons Right To Withdraw Their Labour


Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall is an 'unfettered free market' kinda guy. He believes that a working person does not have a constitutional right to withhold their labour. In other words, in Brad Wall's world, if you have a job, you have NO RIGHT to strike .... ever!

Brad Wall believes that a person who sells their labour on the open market cannot withdraw or withhold their labour. Some people believe that the word which best describes this archaic concept is 'slavery'.

"REGINA — Saskatchewan’s provincial government is appealing a court ruling that found its essential services legislation to be unconstitutional. “The biggest concern we have with the judgment is it creates a constitutional right to strike, which doesn’t exist anywhere in Canadian jurisprudence,” Justice Minister Don Morgan told reporters Monday."
Regina Leader-Post

Yes Premier Wall .... average working Canadians have a constitutional right to strike. If we have to go to the Supreme Court of Canada to prove it ... so be it!

posted by leftdog at Tuesday, March 06, 2012 | |

Saturday, March 03, 2012 

Canada's MSM Scrambles To Provide 'Cover' For Harper And Top Conservatives


We shouldn't be surprised that much of Canada's main stream media is now going through journalistic and editorial contortions to try and provide cover for Stephen Harper from his stinky RoboGate mess:

-Top Tories would never risk all to steal an election (Ottawa Citizen)

-Robocalls the work of rogues (Windsor Star)

-Not much of a robo-scandal - but it still leaves its mark (Rex Murphy - National Post)

-Robocall mudslinging (National Post)

posted by leftdog at Saturday, March 03, 2012 | |

Thursday, March 01, 2012 

A public inquiry is needed to get to the bottom of the robocall scandal ...


"We believe the issue of an inquiry needs to be addressed because of the seriousness and the scope of what we're looking at. We think Judge Gomery did an excellent job before for Canadians and they trust him. We need a public inquiry."
Charlie Angus MP
NDP Ethics Critic

A public inquiry is needed to get to the bottom of the robocall scandal.

Edmonton Journal

posted by leftdog at Thursday, March 01, 2012 | |

 

If Canadians Don't Reprimand Harper's Conservatives For RoboGate It's Only A Matter Of Time Before Tory Goons With Billy Clubs Stand Outside Polling Stations On Election Day


OTTAWA — A leading American expert on dirty political tricks says the robocalls scandal is a "shock to the system" of Canadian democracy.

"I was actually quite surprised because I thought that's a pretty good level of dirty trick," says Joseph Cummins, author of Anything for a Vote: Dirty Tricks, Cheap Shots, and October Surprises. "Misdirecting voters to a different place is a pretty serious dirty trick because you're disenfranchising them and taking away their right to have a voice in their government."

An investigation by Postmedia News and the Ottawa Citizen last week revealed evidence of fraudulent pre-recorded phone calls made during the May federal election in the Guelph riding through services provided by the Edmonton-based voice-broadcast company RackNine Inc.

In further developments, it was found that live phone calls were made by callers posing as Liberal candidates in swing ridings. Elections Canada is also probing reports of false information about polling stations disseminated by a call centre in Thunder Bay, Ont.

Cummins says the use of voter-suppression phone calls and push-polling is nothing new south of the border. "In the United States, there has been a big push by Republican Party to keep poor people, usually Democrats, from voting. And they do this by enacting all sorts of onerous technical things to prevent them from registering to vote."

Cummins says that voter-suppression techniques have been in the works for hundreds of years in the U.S. and that the Canadian robocalls allegations reflect two particular election scandals in that country."
Vancouver Sun

posted by leftdog at Thursday, March 01, 2012 | |



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