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Monday, March 19, 2012
Robocall Pandemic in Canada
The Facts: During the Canadian federal election in 2011, unbeknown to many Canadian voters, robocalls were being used to dissuade voters from casting their ballot by telling them their poll stations had changed location. For anybody that has had their head in the clouds over the past few months, robocalls are automated phone calls that uses both a computerized autodialer and a computer-delivered pre-recorded message. Since the "Robocall Scandal" has surfaced, over 31,000 Canadians have reported experiencing these robocalls,which include being telephoned at inconvenient hours or harassed by people calling on behalf of political parties. Some were automated calls, others were from live callers. Many of these robocalls have been traced to the Guelph electoral district in southeast Ontario.
As many more reports continue to flood in, Elections Canada has called in the RCMP to help with the large volume of complaints. As Elections Canada and the RCMP continue to investigate the issue, it has been reported it to Parliament, which caused Robocops to come out of the woodwork, pointing the finger at everyone else.
Right-Wing View : As the robocall controversy continues to flare up, both Stephen Harper, and the Conservative Party of Canada, denies having any knowledge or participation of the farce calls. Although denying knowledge and participaction of the calls, the Conservative Party has stepped up and acknowledged that there was a problem with the campaign in Guelph, which resulted in a party staffer connected to the campaign resigning. Over the past few days and weeks, Conservative MP's haven't said to much about the inicident, only stepping in to defend the opposition's accusations and continue saying that they are being unfairly attacked when it comes to the bulk of the calls. As of today, Harper continues to tell Canadians that the reports of robocalls is part of a smear campaign againgt the PC's that’s entirely lacking evidence.
Left Wing View: Both Bob Rae leader of the Liberal Party and Nicole Turmel, interm leader of the NDP has called for a complete investigation. When Harper said the whole incident was a smear campaign against the Conservatives, Bob Rae had this to say;
"Unless the prime minister and his associates want to say there are 31,000 Canadians and more who are participating in a smear campaign, he's going to have a hard time simply dismissing these concerns about what happened in the last election," as Rae continually spouts, Turmel has stood up and commented on the situation saying "Canadians are sick of these scandals," and "Conservatives promised to clean up Ottawa scandals, instead they have just added new scandals of their own."
Although Oppostion parties have been on the offense, Liberal MP Frank Valeriote, who was re-elected in Guelph, Ont., May 2, 2011, confirmed that one of his campaign volunteers made a robocall before the election that told people to vote Liberal because the Conservative candidate was anti-abortion. Valeriote said he approved the call and admitted the volunteer who placed the call gave a fake name. Bob Rae fired back to say ;
"Let’s not try to establish some kind of moral equivalence between these two things because there is none. And let’s be clear about that," Rae said.
What's your thought? Comment to get your say
As many more reports continue to flood in, Elections Canada has called in the RCMP to help with the large volume of complaints. As Elections Canada and the RCMP continue to investigate the issue, it has been reported it to Parliament, which caused Robocops to come out of the woodwork, pointing the finger at everyone else.
Right-Wing View : As the robocall controversy continues to flare up, both Stephen Harper, and the Conservative Party of Canada, denies having any knowledge or participation of the farce calls. Although denying knowledge and participaction of the calls, the Conservative Party has stepped up and acknowledged that there was a problem with the campaign in Guelph, which resulted in a party staffer connected to the campaign resigning. Over the past few days and weeks, Conservative MP's haven't said to much about the inicident, only stepping in to defend the opposition's accusations and continue saying that they are being unfairly attacked when it comes to the bulk of the calls. As of today, Harper continues to tell Canadians that the reports of robocalls is part of a smear campaign againgt the PC's that’s entirely lacking evidence.
Left Wing View: Both Bob Rae leader of the Liberal Party and Nicole Turmel, interm leader of the NDP has called for a complete investigation. When Harper said the whole incident was a smear campaign against the Conservatives, Bob Rae had this to say;
"Unless the prime minister and his associates want to say there are 31,000 Canadians and more who are participating in a smear campaign, he's going to have a hard time simply dismissing these concerns about what happened in the last election," as Rae continually spouts, Turmel has stood up and commented on the situation saying "Canadians are sick of these scandals," and "Conservatives promised to clean up Ottawa scandals, instead they have just added new scandals of their own."
Although Oppostion parties have been on the offense, Liberal MP Frank Valeriote, who was re-elected in Guelph, Ont., May 2, 2011, confirmed that one of his campaign volunteers made a robocall before the election that told people to vote Liberal because the Conservative candidate was anti-abortion. Valeriote said he approved the call and admitted the volunteer who placed the call gave a fake name. Bob Rae fired back to say ;
"Let’s not try to establish some kind of moral equivalence between these two things because there is none. And let’s be clear about that," Rae said.
What's your thought? Comment to get your say
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