Federal Court won't remove MPs over election robocalls

Judge Richard Mosley didn't annul the election results, but he did find that fraud occurred in the election.

"I am satisfied, however, that the most likely source of the information used to make the misleading calls was the CIMS database maintained and controlled by the [Conservative Party of Canada], accessed for that purpose by a person or persons currently unknown to this court.

"raydan" said
So it's the head not knowing what the tail is doing.

"2Cdo" said
So it's the head not knowing what the tail is doing.

"raydan" said
So it's the head not knowing what the tail is doing.

"redhatmamma" said

So, which ones don't you like and why...

Election reform bill an affront to democracy, Marc Mayrand says

...

In an interview airing Saturday on CBC Radio's The House, Mayrand said "my reading of the act is that I can no longer speak about democracy in this country."

"I'm not aware of any electoral bodies around the world who can not talk about democracy," Mayrand told host Evan Solomon.

...

Polievre defended the bill, telling the Commons it would give a new independent commissioner "sharper teeth, a longer reach, and a freer hand."

Mayrand said he would have liked to see the bill give the elections watchdog the power to compel witnesses to testify, a problem Elections Canada faced when investigating robocalls made during the last federal election.

. . .

He also would have liked to see the bill give the chief electoral officer the authority to compel political parties and their riding associations to provide Elections Canada with financial documentation to support their financial returns.

"It would make it easier to follow the money in the system."

"Right now we get an overall report stating expenditures of parties during campaigns... we don't have the supporting documents that attest to those expenditures, for example. So it makes it very difficult to carry a complete compliance review of those returns," Mayrand said.

Independents could face even tougher battle under new election rules
Few political observers would disagree that independent candidates face an steep uphill electoral battle.

But the Conservative proposal to give parties what would amount to a blank cheque for fundraising between election periods � specifically, making a party's calls, emails and other communications with anyone who has donated $20 within the past five years exempt from campaign spending limits � could make it even more difficult for those not aligned with a political party to keep up with the pack while on the hustings.

In an interview with host Evan Solomon on CBC Radio's The House, Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand warned that such an exemption could raise questions about ensuring a "fair, level playing field" for all electoral contenders.

"That would affect what we call in the business the 'get-out-the-vote,' which is becoming increasingly a significant expenditure for campaign," he told The House.

"We estimate ... based on what we can figure out from the returns we received, that maybe 20, 25 per cent of the total expenditure goes to 'get-out-the-vote' process.

"If I understand the provision correctly, that means that over and above the five per cent (campaign spending increase) mentioned earlier, a party could spend about 20 per cent more as long as it's linked to fundraising," Mayrand said.

That, in turn, could create a built-in advantage for existing parties and incumbent candidates.

"A new party coming in, new candidates coming in would not likely have any contributors from the past, so immediately, they face a gap of not only the spending limit, but 20 per cent more," he said.

"andyt" said
Yeah, but look at your source.