Tory staffer fingered by own party as ‘Pierre Poutine’ stunned by allegations
OTTAWA — The young Conservative in the spotlight of the robocall scandal told co-workers on Parliament Hill he was stunned to learn he’d been named in connection with fraudulent calls in the Ontario riding of Guelph by unknown senior figures in the party.
As Elections Canada hunts for the mysterious ‘Pierre Poutine’ who registered the phone that launched the robocalls, Sona’s name has been cited repeatedly in news reports. But no one has produced evidence to tie him to the calls that directed Guelph voters to the wrong polling stations on election day last May 2.
Anonymous Conservatives have repeatedly fingered Michael Sona, singling out him alone among a group of workers on the campaign of Guelph candidate Marty Burke, but a source says Sona had no reason to believe Elections Canada was interested in him until he was named by unidentified senior Tories in a report on Sun News Network the day the story broke.
As recently as Monday night, Conservative sources were pushing Sona in connection to the Guelph robocalls. A CTV News report cited unnnamed Conservatives saying Sona had owned up to the calls amid reports that the investigation had traced an Internet Protocol address used by “Poutine” to a home in Guelph.
A source close to Sona said Tuesday that he did not talk to investigators on Monday.
“He never spoke to Elections Canada yesterday, so whoever spoke to Elections Canada is not him,” the source said. “Whoever did, and confessed, it’s not him.”
Postmedia News and the Citizen have learned that Sona has not met with Elections Canada this week and has no future meetings planned.
A source close the investigation said Tuesday that it seems unlikely that a 23-year-old, acting alone, would have been able to pull off the fairly complicated ‘Pierre Poutine’ caper — recording a bilingual, legitimate-sounding message purportedly from Elections Canada, setting up a screen of two false identities using a prepaid cellphone and credit card, and expertly covering his electronic tracks.
Elections Canada never interviewed Sona, the communications director for the Burke campaign, until after his abrupt departure from his job working in an MP’s office on Parliament Hill on Feb. 24.
Aaron Lynett / National Post
Protesters gathered across Canada Sunday in what organizers called the National Day of Action Against Election Fraud. 'Pierre Poutine', the mysterious figure at the centre of the robocalls controversy, has been traced to a Guelph IP address. Tory staffer Michael Sona resigned after being linked by his own party to the scandal.
Sona himself had no idea his name had been linked to the scandal until he heard it on the Conservative-friendly Sun News TV channel staffed by many former party employees. The channel was the first to tie Sona’s name to the calls.
Sona was then working as an aide in the Parliament Hill office of Toronto Conservative MP Eve Adams. He told friends he was stunned to hear his name tied to the robocalls scandal and, after the TV report, offered his resignation in writing to Adams because of the media attention he knew would follow.
Adams initially refused his offer, a source said, but after Adams spoke to Jenni Byrne, the Conservative Party’s campaign manager in last year’s election, Sona’s resignation was accepted.
Adams did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
The party denies that Byrne played any role in Sona’s departure.
source: Tory staffer Michael Sona, fingered by own party as
OTTAWA — The young Conservative in the spotlight of the robocall scandal told co-workers on Parliament Hill he was stunned to learn he’d been named in connection with fraudulent calls in the Ontario riding of Guelph by unknown senior figures in the party.
As Elections Canada hunts for the mysterious ‘Pierre Poutine’ who registered the phone that launched the robocalls, Sona’s name has been cited repeatedly in news reports. But no one has produced evidence to tie him to the calls that directed Guelph voters to the wrong polling stations on election day last May 2.
Anonymous Conservatives have repeatedly fingered Michael Sona, singling out him alone among a group of workers on the campaign of Guelph candidate Marty Burke, but a source says Sona had no reason to believe Elections Canada was interested in him until he was named by unidentified senior Tories in a report on Sun News Network the day the story broke.
As recently as Monday night, Conservative sources were pushing Sona in connection to the Guelph robocalls. A CTV News report cited unnnamed Conservatives saying Sona had owned up to the calls amid reports that the investigation had traced an Internet Protocol address used by “Poutine” to a home in Guelph.
A source close to Sona said Tuesday that he did not talk to investigators on Monday.
“He never spoke to Elections Canada yesterday, so whoever spoke to Elections Canada is not him,” the source said. “Whoever did, and confessed, it’s not him.”
Postmedia News and the Citizen have learned that Sona has not met with Elections Canada this week and has no future meetings planned.
A source close the investigation said Tuesday that it seems unlikely that a 23-year-old, acting alone, would have been able to pull off the fairly complicated ‘Pierre Poutine’ caper — recording a bilingual, legitimate-sounding message purportedly from Elections Canada, setting up a screen of two false identities using a prepaid cellphone and credit card, and expertly covering his electronic tracks.
Elections Canada never interviewed Sona, the communications director for the Burke campaign, until after his abrupt departure from his job working in an MP’s office on Parliament Hill on Feb. 24.
Aaron Lynett / National Post
Protesters gathered across Canada Sunday in what organizers called the National Day of Action Against Election Fraud. 'Pierre Poutine', the mysterious figure at the centre of the robocalls controversy, has been traced to a Guelph IP address. Tory staffer Michael Sona resigned after being linked by his own party to the scandal.
Sona himself had no idea his name had been linked to the scandal until he heard it on the Conservative-friendly Sun News TV channel staffed by many former party employees. The channel was the first to tie Sona’s name to the calls.
Sona was then working as an aide in the Parliament Hill office of Toronto Conservative MP Eve Adams. He told friends he was stunned to hear his name tied to the robocalls scandal and, after the TV report, offered his resignation in writing to Adams because of the media attention he knew would follow.
Adams initially refused his offer, a source said, but after Adams spoke to Jenni Byrne, the Conservative Party’s campaign manager in last year’s election, Sona’s resignation was accepted.
Adams did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
The party denies that Byrne played any role in Sona’s departure.
source: Tory staffer Michael Sona, fingered by own party as
