Following the robocalls scandal in the Saanich-Gulf Islands riding on the eve of the 2008 federal election, Elections Canada said its investigation could not determine who was responsible for the calls and there was no evidence that the Elections Act had been contravened.
Senator Mike Duffy, testifying under oath last week, said the calls were part of a Conservative strategy to win a closely contested seat.
That鈥檚 evidence. The investigation should be reopened.
In the days before the 2008 vote, thousands of automated calls were made urging people to vote for former NDP candidate Julian West. Caller identification information made it appear as if the calls were coming from the phone of Bill Graham, NDP riding association president.
They weren鈥檛. West had withdrawn from the race over a minor scandal, although his name remained on the ballot. And Graham had written to party members reminding them that West was not a candidate and that the party was not backing any of the people in the race.
Conservative Gary Lunn won the seat by a 2,625-vote margin over Liberal Briony Penn. West received 3,667 votes, more than enough to have given Penn a victory had those votes been cast in her favour.
Complaints were filed with the RCMP and Elections Canada. In a 2012 blog, Penn said she got this response in March 2009 from the legal counsel for Elections Canada:
鈥淥ur investigator found no one who had actually been influenced in their vote because of the purported telephone call. Nor was he able to identify the source of the person or persons who actually made the calls. As a result of the foregoing, our investigation has now been concluded.鈥�
Penn said her riding association and other groups continued to push Elections Canada, which resulted in this response in March 2010: 鈥淭his office examined thoroughly the complaints received and advised the complainants that there is no evidence that the Canada Elections Act has been contravened.鈥�
Duffy is facing 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery related to his Senate expenses. He said at his trial in an Ottawa court last week that he and a lobbyist met in June 2009 with Lunn, who was looking for help to boost his chances for re-election.
鈥淗e鈥檇 had a close call during the previous election and it was only through the divine intervention of [campaign manager] Doug Finley鈥檚 black-ops group at Conservative headquarters that he managed to get himself re-elected,鈥� Duffy testified. 鈥淭hey used robocalls to misdirect NDP voters, to split the vote and allow Gary Lunn to win.鈥�
Lunn and his former campaign manager have repeatedly denied knowledge of or any connection to the robocalls.
Finley鈥檚 side of the story won鈥檛 be told 鈥� he died of cancer in 2013 鈥� but Duffy鈥檚 statement is not farfetched. In 2009, Finley and the Conservatives鈥� chief fundraiser were charged with wilfully breaking election laws during the election of 2006. Money was juggled between candidates and the party, resulting in the Conservatives spending more than they were allowed for that campaign. The charges against the two men were dropped in a deal that saw the party fined $52,000 for breaking election rules.
Duffy鈥檚 statements are not conclusive 鈥� anything he says these days is likely to be self-serving 鈥� but they generate enough smoke to warrant someone checking for fire.
An investigation won鈥檛 change anything for the Saanich-Gulf Islands riding 鈥� Lunn lost to Elizabeth May in the 2011 election 鈥� but it鈥檚 needed to purge the 鈥渨in at any cost鈥� attitude that has polluted Canada鈥檚 election process.
