Stomachs have been churning in Parliament for weeks as the greasy Pierre Poutine “robocall” scandal plays itself out with all the finesse of a splorch of ketchup on curdled gravy. But finally, MPs have settled on an antacid to put things right. They plan to give Canada’s election watchdog more bite.
Stung by allegations of electoral fraud, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s normally chippy Conservatives have sniffed the political wind, reversed themselves, and agreed to support a sensible motion by the opposition New Democrats to give Elections Canada more tools to monitor political parties and phone companies at election time. The motion won unanimous Commons approval on Monday.
The Tories must now amend the Elections Canada Act within six months to give Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand the power to require political parties to provide “all necessary documents” regarding their expenses. In addition, telecommunications firms that provide voter contact services during campaigns will be required to register with Elections Canada. And such firms will have to register and verify their election clients.
The idea is to bring more transparency to campaigns, and to prevent a repeat of the bogus and harassing phone calls that tainted the 2011 election.
It’s a climb-down for Harper, whose party has played rough in the past. Elections Canada found the Tories overspent their campaign limit in 2006, and wrongfully claimed rebates. Last fall they tried to mislead voters in Liberal MP Irwin Cotler’s riding.
In the latest scandal Elections Canada is investigating fraudulent automated election-day 2011 calls in Guelph, a Liberal riding, that directed voters to the wrong polling stations, plus a spate of misleading calls in other ridings. The creator of the Guelph robocall account used the alias Pierre Poutine and tried to cover his tracks.
Such abuses shake Canadians’ trust in the political system. Elections Canada should have the power to ferret out the information it needs, and the obligation to report what it finds. Given the high stakes, it’s good to see the Tories swallow their pride and embrace a progressive idea from the opposition. While we’re not holding our breath, it would be even better to see it happen more often.
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: editorial
Stung by allegations of electoral fraud, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s normally chippy Conservatives have sniffed the political wind, reversed themselves, and agreed to support a sensible motion by the opposition New Democrats to give Elections Canada more tools to monitor political parties and phone companies at election time. The motion won unanimous Commons approval on Monday.
The Tories must now amend the Elections Canada Act within six months to give Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand the power to require political parties to provide “all necessary documents” regarding their expenses. In addition, telecommunications firms that provide voter contact services during campaigns will be required to register with Elections Canada. And such firms will have to register and verify their election clients.
The idea is to bring more transparency to campaigns, and to prevent a repeat of the bogus and harassing phone calls that tainted the 2011 election.
It’s a climb-down for Harper, whose party has played rough in the past. Elections Canada found the Tories overspent their campaign limit in 2006, and wrongfully claimed rebates. Last fall they tried to mislead voters in Liberal MP Irwin Cotler’s riding.
In the latest scandal Elections Canada is investigating fraudulent automated election-day 2011 calls in Guelph, a Liberal riding, that directed voters to the wrong polling stations, plus a spate of misleading calls in other ridings. The creator of the Guelph robocall account used the alias Pierre Poutine and tried to cover his tracks.
Such abuses shake Canadians’ trust in the political system. Elections Canada should have the power to ferret out the information it needs, and the obligation to report what it finds. Given the high stakes, it’s good to see the Tories swallow their pride and embrace a progressive idea from the opposition. While we’re not holding our breath, it would be even better to see it happen more often.
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: editorial
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