Harper guts Elections Canada to keep cheating

[JLM]

I have a sneaking suspicion that this is all a cleverly disguised spam campaign from the Liberal Party of Canada.

I have a sneaking suspicion it's merely a bunch of Bullsh*t! -

 

[tay]

One of the reasons Stephen Harper's Cons are rushing their Unfair Elections Act through Parliament, is that they want it to become law before Michael Sona's robocall trial begins in June.

And with good reason. Because the bill would make it harder to go after those who would try to steal an election.
And that robocall scandal just got a whole lot more interesting.
http://montrealsimon.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-fair-elections-act-and-robocall.html#more






Former Guelph Conservative campaign worker Andrew Prescott has given evidence related to the alleged involvement of two other campaign staff in the “Pierre Poutine” robocalls case, sources say.

With an immunity agreement in place, Prescott gave evidence to prosecutors regarding the only person accused in the case, Michael Sona, as expected, but also provided information about Ken Morgan, who was the manager of the Guelph Conservative campaign.

Morgan moved to Kuwait in 2012 and is still believed to be living there. To date, he has never spoken to Elections Canada investigators about his role in the campaign at the centre of the robocalls scandal.

Prescott, who has repeatedly stated that he is innocent of wrongdoing in the scheme to misdirect opposition supporters, reached a deal with prosecutors in January that gives him some protection from prosecution in exchange for his testimony.


Last month, Prescott twice sat down with Elections Canada investigator Al Mathews and federal prosecutor Croft Michaelson, the first time at the Toronto offices of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada. The second meeting was held in Alberta, where Prescott moved after the fallout for the robocall scandal cost him his job.

Sources say Prescott gave evidence that Morgan, the campaign manager, asked him to log into a robocall account on his computer. Prescott also told investigators he later destroyed that computer.

Prescott also told them that after the call went out to opposition supporters, Sona ran into the campaign office, laughing, and shouted, “It’s working, it’s working!”


Prescott declined to comment when contacted this week.




more




http://o.canada.com/news/pierre-pou...ction-campaign-staff-michael-sona-ken-morgan/

 

[relic]

So all you *******s think cheating is ok ?! I'll bet your kids do well in whatever sport the play. I think, in your hurry to defend anything that comes out of PMO, you missed the point of CB's OP

 

[captain morgan]

One of the reasons Stephen Harper's Cons are rushing their Unfair Elections Act through Parliament, is that they want it to become law before Michael Sona's robocall trial begins in June.

I seem to recall that the last time that the robocall issue was raised, a member of the NDP was being sued in civil court for millions.

Doesn't exactly lend much support to the whole conspiracy theory, does it?

 

[Locutus]

yeah, roboring.

 

[PoliticalNick]

instead of the bullshyte troll threads to counter "kids" attacks on harper, why not just shut him down with facts.

Fact, it really doesn't matter what budget cuts are made to elections Canada, the reality is:




So, the complaint against harper and the cons is moot.

This is nice but the underlying issue is whether EC will have enough funding to find any irregularities or possible fraud. If they are stripped bare of funding to find the problems to begin with then it doesn't matter how much funding they get to investigate the problems.

A different way to look at this is also that while it is good to see cuts in the budget this isn't the place to make cuts. Good budget cuts remove waste and non-essential services ($2.5 billion to promote multiculturalism comes to mind). I would hardly think the agency that regulates the democratic election process is a waste or non-essential in a democracy.

 

[Cobalt_Kid]

instead of the bullshyte troll threads to counter "kids" attacks on harper, why not just shut him down with facts.

Fact, it really doesn't matter what budget cuts are made to elections Canada, the reality is:




So, the complaint against harper and the cons is moot.

Care to restate that in light of the pending bill that will drastically effect the ability of Elections Canada to do anything but hold elections and put forward exactly what the government wants it to.

How much further down the road to no real democratic rights in this country do we need to go before people wake up?

Three ways Harper’s Bill C-23 undermines democracy | Toronto Star

Here are three reasons why the federal government is playing a dangerous game that puts Canada’s democracy at risk.

First, the bill proposes to get rid of Voter Information Cards (VICs). These cards are designed to allow Canadians already marginalized from the electoral process, such as students living away from home, seniors in long-term care facilities, and aboriginal people living on reserve to vote by showing their VIC alongside other officially recognized identification. The government claims that eliminating VICs will cut down on electoral fraud, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his team have been unable to provide evidence that citizens are deliberately trying to cast illegal ballots with VICs.

In fact, Conservative MP Brad Butt retracted his statement last week that he apparently saw people using VICs for fraudulent purposes. Butt’s misleading statement leaves Canadians to wonder whether the government is proposing to change the rules to fix real problems or is instead making up stories to justify excluding already marginalized Canadians from exercising their democratic right to vote.

Second, the bill proposes to crack down on vouching – that is, allowing individuals who don’t have the proper identification to take an oath affirming their identity, citizenship, and residence. The minister for democratic reform, Pierre Poilievre, insists that this will help eliminate “irregularities” in the system.

Yet the Neufeld report, which was commissioned by Elections Canada to look into non-compliance of electoral rules, did not find that voters were deliberately trying to cast illegal ballots. Instead, the report concludes that irregularities are due to an entirely different problem – one that is tied to administrative challenges, such as poor record-keeping at polling stations.

Instead of fixing what are largely paperwork errors by election officers, Bill C-23 risks exacerbating the very source of the irregularities the government is purportedly trying to eliminate. In a truly bizarre move, the Fair Elections Act proposes that the candidate or party that came first in the previous election choose poll supervisors.

This would mean that the majority of polls in Canada’s next election would be supervised by an individual appointed by the Conservative Party of Canada, instead of by Elections Canada (a non-partisan body). While this move may help the Conservatives get ahead in the game, it certainly won’t help level the playing field.

Tell me it's a good thing having conservatives in charge of polling stations in the next election, especially considering how most of the cheating in the last several elections has been done by them.

The most dangerous aspect of the bill is that it prevents Elections Canada from doing its job, which is to protect the fairness of the electoral process on which the legitimacy of our democracy depends. Under the new rules, the Commissioner of Elections will no longer have the power to properly investigate electoral infractions, compel witness testimony, or enforce the necessary compliance on rules such as spending limits.

Moreover, the bill forbids Elections Canada from promoting democratic participation through campaigns that encourage citizens to exercise their democratic right to vote. In a twist of logic, this bill suggests that encouraging Canadians to get out and vote somehow poses a threat to democracy. By taking Elections Canada – which acts as an umpire in the impartial administration of the electoral process – out of the game, the proposed Fair Elections Act fails to live up to its name.

So basically the bill the Harper majority government would like to ram through the House would put the conservative party in control of elections, this is blatantly undemocratic, but also completely in line with what they've been doing for the last eight years.

btw as a Canadian I see it as not only my right but my duty to criticize a government that is stealing my rights and future. People who have their lips fully employed in a vacuum grip on Harper's *** should just leave them there. That kind of sycophantry belongs in countries like Russia where they have no real democratic tradition, just an undying love of their glorious leaders. Something that should make most Canadians sick after all the blood that has been shed by generations of Canadians fighting against the kind of government we now seem to have.

 

[pgs]

Care to restate that in light of the pending bill that will drastically effect the ability of Elections Canada to do anything but hold elections and put forward exactly what the government wants it to.

How much further down the road to no real democratic rights in this country do we need to go before people wake up?

Three ways Harper’s Bill C-23 undermines democracy | Toronto Star





Tell me it's a good thing having conservatives in charge of polling stations in the next election, especially considering how most of the cheating in the last several elections has been done by them.



So basically the bill the Harper majority government would like to ram through the House would put the conservative party in control of elections, this is blatantly undemocratic, but also completely in line with what they've been doing for the last eight years.

btw as a Canadian I see it as not only my right but my duty to criticize a government that is stealing my rights and future. People who have their lips fully employed in a vacuum grip on Harper's *** should just leave them there. That kind of sycophantry belongs in countries like Russia where they have no real democratic tradition, just an undying love of their glorious leaders. Something that should make most Canadians sick after all the blood that has been shed by generations of Canadians fighting against the kind of government we now seem to have.

I guess that is settled then, but can the Conservatives carry Quebec ?
It must mark the end of the separation debate .


Well the cons are taking over though I wonder if any polls will report 3 hours late and 105 % for conservative candidate ,
because we know Liberals would never do that right .

 

[Cobalt_Kid]

Sheila Fraser has far more integrity than the arrogant jerks now on the government side of the House, but you wouldn't know that from the personal attacks on her character.

Fair Elections Act: Sheila Fraser's Assessment Not Shared By All On Advisory Board

In the Commons, Democratic Reform Minister Pierre Poilievre continued implying that Fraser is simply parroting the views of Elections Canada. He did not utter her name, parrying all opposition questions about Fraser's criticisms by saying the government already knew Elections Canada's position on the reforms and disagrees with the watchdog agency.

NDP democratic reform critic Craig Scott accused Poilievre of engaging in a "soft smear by saying that everything (Fraser) says is somehow from Elections Canada and not her own voice." And he said that's "just one more piece of delusional spin from somebody who can do nothing but spin."

A government that has no real credibility and is doing everything it can to avoid the facts on so many important issues has no business claiming any moral high ground. Sheila Fraser did a really good job in exposing abuse of power under the Liberals and is continuing that now with the conservative government, she has courage and actually cares about this country.

The conservative government on the other hand, doesn't want to hear anything from anybody who isn't directly connected with the PMO.

 

[Durry]

It's unbelievable that in this day and age where you have to show your ID almost in every serious transaction, that the Libs still think that vouching is good enough when carrying out such a serious responsibility as voting!!
.
It's seems that in this 21st century the Libs still haven't figured out what goes on in this world.

 

[JLM]

Sheila Fraser has far more integrity than the arrogant jerks now on the government side of the House, but you wouldn't know that from the personal attacks on her character.

Fair Elections Act: Sheila Fraser's Assessment Not Shared By All On Advisory Board

Yep, they don't come any better or more honest than Sheila! (But she's not actually a politician, I don't think)

It's unbelievable that in this day and age where you have to show your ID almost in every serious transaction, that the Libs still think that vouching is good enough when carrying out such a serious responsibility as voting!!
.
It's seems that in this 21st century the Libs still haven't figured out what goes on in this world.

But what party does? -

 

[Goober]

It's unbelievable that in this day and age where you have to show your ID almost in every serious transaction, that the Libs still think that vouching is good enough when carrying out such a serious responsibility as voting!!
.
It's seems that in this 21st century the Libs still haven't figured out what goes on in this world.

It is not just Libs. The person who the Cons are quoting is being misquoted. We call that BS down East. What do you call it out West?

 

[Durry]

But what party does? -

Oh the Cons know what is going on in the world around us, that's why they are bringing this Bill and that's why they made so many changes to the criminal justice system.
.
The Libs were in power for 13 years and all they did was to make things easier for the criminal element.

 

[Goober]

Oh the Cons know what is going on in the world around us, that's why they are bringing this Bill and that's why they made so many changes to the criminal justice system.
.
The Libs were in power for 13 years and all they did was to make things easier for the criminal element.

Recall the uproar over that hockey coach receiving a pardon. The Cons were the ones that wrote the rules on that one.

 

[Durry]

No I don't remember that one. But I remember the law they passed that says 10 years means 10 yrs, it does not mean 10 years equals 3 yrs!!

 

[JLM]

Recall the uproar over that hockey coach receiving a pardon. The Cons were the ones that wrote the rules on that one.

Yeah, they are all tarred with the same brush. Libs looked bad with the sponsorship scandal, Cons have looked bad with the Senate, Peter MacKay, the f**kin' woman who drank $16 orange juice. They are all a bunch of thieves and larceners!

No I don't remember that one. But I remember the law they passed that says 10 years means 10 yrs, it does not mean 10 years equals 3 yrs!!

Does the name Graham James ring a bell?

 

[pgs]

Yeah, they are all tarred with the same brush. Libs looked bad with the sponsorship scandal, Cons have looked bad with the Senate, Peter MacKay, the f**kin' woman who drank $16 orange juice. They are all a bunch of thieves and larceners!




Does the name Graham James ring a bell?

Have you ever stayed in a hotel in Europe and ordered from room service ?
Do you know the cost of orange juice in Europe ?
In downtown Vancouver hotels it cost over $ 6.00 for a glass of orange juice 15 years ago .
That f**kin woman was railroaded out of politics for $16.00
Yup must be on the same level as sponsorship .


Good way to get intelligent honorable educated woman involved in politics.
P.S. she was visible minority as well .


Funny another visible minority woman is heralded as a saviour for the good city of Toronto even after double dipping and living a lie in social housing .

 

[JLM]

Have you ever stayed in a hotel in Europe and ordered from room service ?
Do you know the cost of orange juice in Europe ?
In downtown Vancouver hotels it cost over $ 6.00 for a glass of orange juice 15 years ago .
That f**kin woman was railroaded out of politics for $16.00
Yup must be on the same level as sponsorship .


Good way to get intelligent honorable educated woman involved in politics.
P.S. she was visible minority as well .


Funny another visible minority woman is heralded as a saviour for the good city of Toronto even after double dipping and living a lie in social housing .

What's that got to do with anything? She could have bought a whole can of orange juice for $2 and kept it cool in the toilet tank! She wasn't "railroaded" out of politics for $16. She was relieved of her position because she couldn't relate to the common man on the street. She's just one of many including Jeanne Sauve, Adrienne Clarkson, Alison Redford.

 

[Zipperfish]

I tink the Conservatives are a little surprised this thing ended up getting traction. Seems to have hit a nerve. Rightly so--you shouldn't be tweaking the democratic process to suit your own party. It's just not good cricket.

As for this being some kind of democratic reform--yeah, not so much. They don't get any ore partisan that Pierre Poilievre.

I thought the Conservatvies would actually turn a little towards the middle come election time. But they are doubling-down instead.

 

[captain morgan]

I tink the Conservatives are a little surprised this thing ended up getting traction. Seems to have hit a nerve. Rightly so--you shouldn't be tweaking the democratic process to suit your own party. It's just not good cricket.

As for this being some kind of democratic reform--yeah, not so much. They don't get any ore partisan that Pierre Poilievre.

I thought the Conservatvies would actually turn a little towards the middle come election time. But they are doubling-down instead.

This doesn't provide any advantage to one specific party.

Quite frankly, it is a non-issue that you only hear about from those that have an axe to grind