OTTAWA—Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the Conservative party’s telemarketing supplier, RMG, fired an employee for overly aggressive fundraising on the party’s behalf.
Harper told the Commons he was aware of “one case” where Responsive Marketing Group Inc. had fired an employee “before the election” and he added, “We maintain our standards at all times.”
But the revelation comes as an awkward admission at a time when the Conservative government fends off allegations of misleading robocalls, claiming their election calls to voters were beyond reproach.
According to a recording obtained by La Presse newspaper, an RMG employee who identified himself as Don Duke used aggressive pitches to solicit donations for the Conservatives.
The date of a series of recorded calls is not clear, but Duke says he is calling from “supporter services on behalf of the Harper government in Ottawa.”
When Duke reaches a man who questions who Duke is, and how he has come to identify the man as a party supporter, Duke challenges in return: “How would I have your membership number?” he demands. “Am I going to hack into the computers and get your membership number and your donation schedule back to the year 2000. Where the hell would I get that? . . . I’m telling you where I got that, I got it from the Conservative Party records, right here.”
Duke guffaws and tells the man the party intends to “bury” Ignatieff at the ballot box.
When he reaches another man who says he is no longer a Conservative supporter, Duke responds: “We don’t want to talk to socialists or separatists. . . . We had you down as a good Conservative. And if you’re not Harry, no, we don’t want to speak to you then. Thank you, Harry.”
In another call to a woman, Duke says, “Your husband makes decisions on the money coming in? When do you think I could reach him?” There is a pause in the recording during which it’s unclear if it’s the same call or a later one the same night, Duke challenges her: “I heard him, your husband is there; he’s talking in the background.”
NDP interim leader Nycole Turmel demanded why RMG was making the calls in the name of the government, and whether it was “because RMG and the Conservative Party — it’s all the same?”
The NDP’s Libby Davies noted RMG merged with Xentel, describing it as having “similar dubious tactics.” She said in 2010, Xentel was fined $500,000 by the CRTC “for violating Canada’s do-not-call list.”
“My question is, how much did the Conservative war chest grow from these strong-arming tactics?”
Turmel challenged Harper to take responsibility for having created a culture in his party that believes in “victory at any cost. That’s what matters,” she said. “It’s true of the Conservative party and of their allies.”
Harper declined further comment on RMG, and urged his opposition critics to accept the verdict of the last election.
In statement emailed to the Star, RMG’s media relations office confirmed the caller in question “hasn’t worked for us since last year.”
The unsigned email said RMG “subscribes to the highest professional standards and practices and we do not take instances of unsatisfactory calls lightly.”
“Our quality control department and monitoring systems will periodically identify a caller that is not meeting our standards and the standards our clients expect and we will terminate that caller.”
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Tonda MacCharles
Harper told the Commons he was aware of “one case” where Responsive Marketing Group Inc. had fired an employee “before the election” and he added, “We maintain our standards at all times.”
But the revelation comes as an awkward admission at a time when the Conservative government fends off allegations of misleading robocalls, claiming their election calls to voters were beyond reproach.
According to a recording obtained by La Presse newspaper, an RMG employee who identified himself as Don Duke used aggressive pitches to solicit donations for the Conservatives.
The date of a series of recorded calls is not clear, but Duke says he is calling from “supporter services on behalf of the Harper government in Ottawa.”
When Duke reaches a man who questions who Duke is, and how he has come to identify the man as a party supporter, Duke challenges in return: “How would I have your membership number?” he demands. “Am I going to hack into the computers and get your membership number and your donation schedule back to the year 2000. Where the hell would I get that? . . . I’m telling you where I got that, I got it from the Conservative Party records, right here.”
Duke guffaws and tells the man the party intends to “bury” Ignatieff at the ballot box.
When he reaches another man who says he is no longer a Conservative supporter, Duke responds: “We don’t want to talk to socialists or separatists. . . . We had you down as a good Conservative. And if you’re not Harry, no, we don’t want to speak to you then. Thank you, Harry.”
In another call to a woman, Duke says, “Your husband makes decisions on the money coming in? When do you think I could reach him?” There is a pause in the recording during which it’s unclear if it’s the same call or a later one the same night, Duke challenges her: “I heard him, your husband is there; he’s talking in the background.”
NDP interim leader Nycole Turmel demanded why RMG was making the calls in the name of the government, and whether it was “because RMG and the Conservative Party — it’s all the same?”
The NDP’s Libby Davies noted RMG merged with Xentel, describing it as having “similar dubious tactics.” She said in 2010, Xentel was fined $500,000 by the CRTC “for violating Canada’s do-not-call list.”
“My question is, how much did the Conservative war chest grow from these strong-arming tactics?”
Turmel challenged Harper to take responsibility for having created a culture in his party that believes in “victory at any cost. That’s what matters,” she said. “It’s true of the Conservative party and of their allies.”
Harper declined further comment on RMG, and urged his opposition critics to accept the verdict of the last election.
In statement emailed to the Star, RMG’s media relations office confirmed the caller in question “hasn’t worked for us since last year.”
The unsigned email said RMG “subscribes to the highest professional standards and practices and we do not take instances of unsatisfactory calls lightly.”
“Our quality control department and monitoring systems will periodically identify a caller that is not meeting our standards and the standards our clients expect and we will terminate that caller.”
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Tonda MacCharles
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