“It’s amazing that they need all this time to prepare a file that’s already been argued in court, but they can certainly organize to blanket the riding with calls in no time,” said Borys Wrzesnewskyj, the former Liberal incumbent who fought the 2011 election result at the Ontario Superior Court and won.
On May 18, Ontario Superior Court Justice Thomas Lederer threw out the election results for Etobicoke Centre, which saw Conservative MP Ted Opitz win the riding on May 2, 2011 by 26 votes. Justice Lederer cited inadequate registration or eligibility records for 79 votes, after looking at a sample of 10 polls out of a total 222 ordinary and mobile polls that were set up in the riding. Mr. Opitz filed notice of his appeal on May 28, but did not include the grounds on which he was appealing the Superior Court decision. Since then, Mr. Wrzesnewskyj has also filed notice of an appeal asking the court to determine whether Justice Lederer made an error in accepting several dozen other election-day ballots as valid, and has outlined the grounds for his appeal.
If a byelection does take place in Etobicoke Centre it presumably won’t be until some time in 2013. The Supreme Court rises for the summer on June 15 and isn’t scheduled to return until Oct. 6.
While Mr. Wrzesnewskyj has asked the Supreme Court to hear the appeal outside their usual sitting schedule on June 27—a rare occurrence for the court—Mr. Opitz’s lawyers have filed requesting the appeal be heard on the first available date in the fall.
Early last week news broke that constituents in Etobicoke Centre had received calls from the Conservative Party, reportedly stating that they were calling on behalf of Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) and Mr. Opitz. According to a reported constituent Ross Morley, who tweeted about receiving the calls on June 2, the script stated that, “they’re trying to overthrow your vote.”
Mr. Wrzesnewskyj told The Hill Times the Conservatives are “blanketing” the riding with ongoing calls and said he’s heard from a number of constituents who have received the calls since June 1: “It seems to be from every part of the riding.”
Liberal interim leader Bob Rae (Toronto Centre, Ont.) has questioned the timing of the Conservative calls as the case is currently before the Supreme Court, asking, “Why wouldn’t you let the Supreme Court hear the case instead of dealing directly with the issue that is before the court?”
Conservative Party communications director Fred DeLorey confirmed the party is making calls to the riding, and in an email to The Hill Times said, “though we are hopeful with the Supreme Court reviewing the case, as a political party we still must do our part to prepare for all possible outcomes.”
Mr. DeLorey also pointed to the fundraising emails being sent out by different members of the Liberal Party.
“The defeated Liberal candidate and his party have demonstrated that they have no shame, this time by fundraising based on false allegations that he withdrew in court,” said Mr. DeLorey.
Liberal Party president Mike Crawley, Mr. Rae and Mr. Wrzesnewskyj have all sent out fundraising emails asking people to contribute money to a “Fair Fight in Etobicoke Centre Campaign.”
In a June 6 email to supporters, Mr. Crawley noted that 2,271 people had contributed a total of $99,904 to their campaign.
“Because of your generosity, we’ll be in the field reaching out to voters very shortly,” read the email.
In a fundraising email sent on June 1, Mr. Wrzesnewskyj said, “We need to be ready for the worst Conservatives have to offer in Etobicoke Centre: improper phone calls, attack ads, and other voter suppression tactics imported from the United States.”
Jim Armour, vice-president of public affairs at Summa Strategies, said the strategy behind the Conservative calls is simple: they want to ID and motivate their supporters.
“The Conservatives are going to portray this in a light that’s most favourable to them, just like the Liberals are doing with their own emails,” Mr. Armour said. “I think what you’re seeing is a little bit of misplaced outrage on the Liberal part when in fact they’re using the same tactics in the same riding.”
But former Liberal research bureau staffer Adam Carroll, who was asked to resign in February after it was revealed he was responsible for the anonymous @Vikileaks Twitter account revealing details of Public Safety Minister Vic Toews (Provencher, Man.) divorce details, said the Liberals referred to the Conservative calls as a “push poll” tactic aiming to create a negative Liberal narrative; a tactic that he said isn’t typical in Canadian politics. Mr. Carroll publicly weighed in what’s happening in the Etobicoke Centre when he wrote a blog about it which was posted on National Newswatch.
“[In a canvas call if someone says,] ‘I’m not sure about their position on the environment,’ well you can talk about why the Liberals are great on the environment and why the others might not be as great. I mean that’s a normal part of a normal canvas call. But to come out straight and deliver that sort of biasing language right off the top end, that’s a different kind of call all together,” said Mr. Carroll.
In response, Mr. DeLorey said: “That’s a bit rich coming from Adam Carroll. The Conservative Party, like every party, has a right to communicate directly with voters on issues of public concern. That is what we are doing.”
Original Article
Source: hill times
Author: Laura Ryckewaert
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