Marty Burke files Elections Canada complaint

Posted by Phil Andrews

 

Here's the text of Marty Burke's complaint to Elections Canada over the Liberal robo-calling in the riding of Guelph in the last federal election:

 

 

Commissioner of Canada Elections                                                                                                                                                                        c/o Elections Canada                                                                                          

Dear Commissioner,

 

I wish to file an official complaint with your office concerning an incident that happened in the Guelph EDA during the 41^st Federal Election.

On April 30, 2011 a recorded voice message was sent to an unknown number of Guelph residents. The actual transcript of the voice message:

“Hi, I’m Laurie MacDonald of Guelph.  I’m appalled by what I read in the Mercury today.  I’ve been an advocate for women’s rights for most of my life.  Conservative candidate Marty Burke believes that under absolutely no circumstance should a woman have a right to choose.

Government should not be able to force their beliefs onto me.  We live in a multi-faith, multi-cultural society.  Let’s move forward and not back.

The race in Guelph is very close, vote strategically on Monday to protect our hard earned rights from the Conservatives and Marty’s extreme views.”

I believe this message violates Section 320 of the elections act in that it does not indicate “in or on the message that its transmission was authorized by the official agent of the candidate or by the registered agent of the party”. In other words, it was a deliberate attempt to sway voters away from the Conservative Party while remaining anonymous. 

Secondly, under the CRTC Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules (which are applicable in elections), such calls “shall display the originating telecommunications number or an alternate telecommunications number where the telecommunication originator can be reached”.  The number displayed 226-209-3758 had no call back capability and no other number was provided maintaining anonymity.  

Finally, the CRTC rules state such calls cannot be made on weekends after 6 p.m. There is some question as to whether some or all of the calls were made before or after this time but I believe it does bear investigation. 

 In early March, Guelph resident Greg Schirk, who received the message last April 30^th, sent the original voice mail message to the Guelph Mercury newspaper. They subsequently published a story on this revelation.

Only after this event was made public did the local federal Liberal campaign admit that they had created and transmitted the message. 

The clear intent of this Liberal Party authorized message was to slur myself and the Conservative Party in the hopes of discouraging votes for the Conservative Party. This was done without indicating it was a Liberal Party message, with no call back ability to check the origin, and possibly outside the time period in which these types of calls are allowed.  The Liberal campaign also admitted the name “Laurie MacDonald” was fictitious- apparently another attempt to cover their tracks.

With these telephone calls, we are left to wonder how extensively they were sent and how much did they affect the Guelph election outcome. Their timing coming less than two days before the election, their content designed to inflame people, and their devious anonymity maximizes their impact.             

I respectfully request that your offices investigate to determine whether an offence or offences occurred under the Elections Canada Act or the CRTC rules attached to the act due to these recorded voice messages. 

I am available to assist in any way possible.

 

 

Marty Burke

 

 

Comments

[Greg]

Cry me a river.

Although I'm sure this wasn't done exactly to standard, it's nothing compared to calling thousands of voters and leading them to different or non-existent voting stations.

The Liberals also reported these expenses which Conservatives did not.

This is why I hate politics. How does it make sense this kind of stuff is tolerated at all. The conservatives should not be in power. I don't care what your political views are, they did something so terribly wrong to break the trust of Canadians. That is a crime that does not deserve to go unpunished.

It's a sad day when these are the kind of people we let run our country.

[E Mac]

Wrong - Your bias is showing - Who are you to say they should not be in power?
Wishful thinking on your part, get over it!

[Student Who Cares]

Mr. Valeriote's Robocalls show that both parties were deprecate to win Guelph. Due to these circumstances I believe that the Prime Minister should call a by-election in Guelph to show who truley won this riding.

And I agree with E Mac, Greg may believe the Conservatives shouldn't be in power, but the rest of the country thinks the opposite.

[Jan Hall]

As Marty Burke has finally spoken with an e-mail to the Mercury, the Mercury should be pushing much harder for the interview that all Guelph wants to hear.

What does Marty Burke know?

He needs to be asked why two of his campaign staff, Prescott, and, now, Sona have lawyered up.

Were they involved in the alleged conspiracy to suppress the vote in Guelph?

If Marty refuses to speak again after engaging the Merc via the e-mail, then we should get to hear about that too. Communication is a two-way street.

Reporting should be about more than just printing e-mails and asking former candidates inane questions about by-elections.

[Student Who Cares]

The people of Guelph have no right into Mr. Burke's life. Mr. Sona and Mr. Prescott have laywered up because both of them are underfire from Canadians, Election's Canada and the media. They need legal advice.

[Edward Pickersgill]

Perhaps we would benefit from a system of electoral politics without political parties. Let each riding elect the contestant of its choice. The let the 300+ elected reps in the House of Commons elect an Executive Cabinet which would in turn select the Cabinet's Prime (First) Minister. This would get rid of the robotics and perhaps many other silly antics.

[Adam A. Donaldson]

Actually, 61 per cent of the country thinks the Tories shouldn't be in power, they're just split between 4 other parties as to who would best replace them.

Not a partisan attack, just pointing out the math.

[Dis-a-Ray Antiques]

I just wish that we had a student that cared more about spelling and punctuation.

[Student Who Cares]

Sorry I didn't notice that until I had already sent it in.