There is an interesting tension underneath the robocall story, the debate about resonance, “legs”, staying power, inside, outside, how much impact this scandal is truly having with the general public. Everyone will look to the next batch of polls to denote the impact, others already pointing to specific avenues of
Continue readingTag: robocalls
Impolitical: RMG call centre in Gatineau used during election?
Noted from a report this week in Le Droit, three Ottawa area Conservative candidates also hired RMG during the May 2011 federal election: Les campagnes de trois candidats conservateurs de la région d’Ottawa ont versé tout près de 30 000 $ à l’une des firmes de sollicitation téléphonique soupçonnées d’avoir
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Are Canadians ‘Mad As Hell’ Over Voter Suppression Crimes?
Read a cross-section of opinion from the Star’s letters and decide for yourself. This one from the Guelph Mercury also merits scrutiny. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Harper’s Fondest Fantasy
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Continue reading14 Cons conned voters from US Front Porch Strategies
Looks like Stephen Harper and his puppet, the hapless Dean Del Mastro, have been caught in yet another lie. Fourteen Conservatives have been found to have used an Ohio telemarketer, the amusingly-named Front Porch Strategies (emphasis mine). The prime minister and his parliamentary secretary, Peterborough MP Dean Del Mastro, claimed
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Star Exposes Another Harper Lie
More and more, people are seeing the bald mendacity of the Harper regime. Despite their claims of electoral probity and refusal to use U.S. firms in their campaigning, it turns out that 14 Conservative (will the claim be made that they were rogues?) did exactly that by signing on with
Continue readingImpolitical: About those election call tapes being reviewed
This was a report from CBC initially posted yesterday afternoon: “Election call tapes under review by Conservatives.” The report was last updated early this afternoon. Here’s the key excerpt: The Conservative Party is reviewing tapes of every call made by the Responsive Marketing Group call centre in Thunder Bay, Ont.,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Exactly How Dangerous Is Harper?
That is the title of a piece written by Gerald Caplan, in which he opines that the Harper Conservatives are like nothing Canada has ever seen before, a party that refuses to follow the customs and practices of past governments, a party that sees politics as a form of warfare
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Roboscam: Ten Things You can do to protect Canada’s democracy
Elections Canada has finally thought fit to let the public know the extent of Canadians’ concern about voter suppression actions during the May 2011 federal election. It says it has received a staggering 31,000 complaints from upset Canadians about possible election fraud! Now is the time for all Canadians to
Continue readingAnyone else gobsmacked by Postmedia attention to Robogate?
I’ve been a taken a little by surprise at the attention paid by Postmedia to the Robo-call scandal. While the Globe & Mail and Sun Media rest on the sidelines, choosing to bolster Conservative claims of innocence and misdirection, and CBC continues its lame tact of false equivalence, the National
Continue readingBlunt Objects: EKOS Poll Shows Little Movement
There’s very little difference between the last EKOS poll and this one, despite the robocall controversy. The topline numbers (with changes from last poll) are as follows: Con: 31.5% (+0.1) NDP: 29.2% (-0.3) Liberal: 21.7% (-3.1) Bloc: 6.0% (-0.7) Green: 8.3% (+2.2) Other: 3.3% (+1.8) The biggest change, therefore, has
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Roboscam: Bob Rae has 18 days to protect our democracy
The clock is ticking and there are less than three weeks to go (around 18 days as of today) before voters lose their right to appeal to the courts to upset the results of the May 2 election in at least 27 ridings. And Bob Rae, having identified 27 ridings
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Now This Is Getting Really Frightening
Despite the steadfast denials of Harper and his functionaries, along with the stalwart efforts of Dean Del Maestro at diverting public attention away from voter suppression crimes, Elections Canada reports that it has received over 31,000 complaints from Canadians reporting attempts to subvert their vote. Even the true believers who
Continue reading31,000 Robo-call complaints. 31,000!
“No, this is not a Robo-call. I’m a real human being. Don’t hang up! Fudge, that keeps happening.” That number will surely grow larger. Elections Canada assures it can handle the growing number of complaints. I’m wondering if EC can also be independent enough to withstand pressure from the Conservatives.
Continue readingHarper and the electoral fraud scandal | #cdnpoli
You know, I really want to believe this thing will grow uglier and get out of control. Massive, systematic and coordinated misinformation, all with the express purpose of disenfranchising voters? If this doesn’t throw the results of last May’s federal election into doubt, then God knows what will. Alison’s been
Continue readingTrashy's World: Friday miscellany…
… in like a lion edition… I have, so far, stayed away from saying a lot about the ongoing car accident going by the name of Robo-gate, phonescam, etc. Final determinations of blame and guilt have yet to happen. Here is what we do know. Something did happen in Guelph.
Continue readingBlunt Objects: Did We Just Find the Smoking Gun?
From HuffPo: A Mission, B.C., woman says she was given misleading information by the Conservative Party a few days before the May 2011 federal election.Astrid Dimond said she had been called six times for Conservative donations during the last election. After a seventh call, she said she did an internet
Continue readingOccupy Ottawa: Robo-calls Scandal: Council of Canadians Contemplating Legal Action
The Council of Canadians announced today that it is canvassing its members and other Canadians to determine the extent to which the “robo-calls” and other dirty tricks during the May 2011 federal election may have …Read More
Continue readingImpolitical: Typical Harper in Question Period today
We have citizens across the country, who are now being awakened to the context of a certain phone call they may have received during the May federal election. They may have received harassing phone calls. They may have received calls misdirecting them to the wrong polling stations. They may have
Continue readingBlunt Objects: Attention Dean Del Mastro: Where Are You Getting Your Information?
This accusation: Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro, the parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister, pointed out however that Mr. Volpe’s own riding spent money on voter-support call firms such as Prime Contact. It has offices in North Dakota. OK… This is the firm that Joe Volpe and other Liberal candidates
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