‘I’m tired’: Michael Sona on robocalls, his suicide attempt — and the road back

It seemed like a good day to die.

It was the spring of 2012, and Michael Sona could see no other way out. Alone in his Ottawa apartment, he loaded up the magazine of his .45 calibre pistol with ten rounds — noting to himself the absurdity of the act.

“I just needed one. But you do weird stuff almost reflexively when you’re in that state of mind.”

Conservatives’ silence on Sona sentencing adds to aura of disreputable politics

How many lone outlaws can pop up on how many grassy knolls before a series of supposedly isolated incidents coagulate into one large, collectively worn blob of disreputability?

This is the question that emerges, again, in the wake of Michael Sona’s sentencing to nine months in prison and a subsequent year’s probation for his role in the robocalls affair, which saw thousands of voters in Guelph, Ont., fraudulently misinformed in an attempt to skew the 2011 election. Sona, now 26, becomes the first person ever to go to jail for such an offence in Canada.

Records show Sona on a beach when Conservatives claim he confessed to robocalls

At the same time as some Conservative party staffers allege meeting with Michael Sona and reporting that he told them of his involvement in the robocalls controversy in the riding of Guelph, travel records show that Sona was vacationing on the island of Aruba.

Sona is charged with violating the Elections Act in a controversy stemming from the 2011 election wherein robocalls directed voters to the wrong polling stations.

Some of the most damaging testimony, according to a sworn statement by Elections Canada investigator Allan Mathews, comes from Rebecca Dockstaeder, who worked for CPC MP Chris Warkentin.

Michael Sona Bragged Of Election Exploits, Witnesses Told Robocalls Investigator

OTTAWA - A junior Conservative staffer in Guelph, Ont., charged with elections offences bragged about his allegedly fraudulent exploits to other young partisans, newly released court documents show.

A judge partially lifted a publication ban Wednesday that prevented the release of details on Elections Canada interviews with six Conservative workers.

All six suggest that Michael Sona boasted to them about his alleged involvement in a series of fraudulent automated phone calls during the local Conservative candidate's 2011 Guelph election campaign.

Michael Sona in exile

Its a long way from the North River Road Gospel Hall to the Halls of Justice, and the road just got rockier for the son of a preacher man.

According to Michael Sona, the only person so far charged in the Robocalls Affair, the Crown has decided to proceed against him by indictment rather than summary conviction.

“What this means is that if convicted I will go to jail. What this means is now we have to win the case,” he said.

Charge in robocall case has caused split among Guelph Tories

Several members of the Guelph Conservative riding association have left the group because they are unhappy with the way the central party reacted when local election worker Michael Sona was charged in connection with a fraudulent robocall that sent hundreds of Guelph, Ont., residents to the wrong poll on election day.

Robocalls: What Will Charged Junior Tory Reveal?

A junior Conservative staffer on the 2011 federal campaign in the Guelph riding has been charged with attempting to prevent someone from voting, an offence under the Canada Elections Act.

The staffer's name is Michael Sona.

He is alleged to have committed his offence by ordering automated -- or "robo" -- calls, which told carefully selected "non-Conservative" voters, falsely, that polling stations had been moved.

Public robocalls documents don’t tell the full story of the case against Sona: expert

OTTAWA — The prosecutors who decided to proceed with a charge against Conservative campaign worker Michael Sona in the robocall case must believe they have a shot at conviction, which suggests Elections Canada has evidence stronger than anything it has disclosed in publicly available court documents, says veteran elections lawyer Jack Siegel.

“The standard to get it through a prosecutor is reasonable prospect of obtaining a conviction,” said Siegel, an active Liberal, in an interview Wednesday. “Of course, all the evidence they have is not going to be on the public record.”

Michael Sona Charged By Elections Canada In Connection To Robocall Scandal

Elections Canada has filed a charge against Michael Sona, the ex-Conservative staffer fingered by the Tories in the so-called robocalls scandal, The Huffington Post Canada has learned.

While Elections Canada initially did not confirm the charge, detailed Tuesday in a provincial court filing in Guelph, Ont., HuffPost learned he is charged under section 491.3(d) of the Canada Elections Act, which relates to willfully preventing or endeavouring to prevent an elector from voting. The date of the alleged offence is April 30, 2011 — two days before the last federal election day.

‘Robocalls’ staffer to oppose Sun News Network’s application

Michael Sona, a former Conservative staffer linked to the Guelph robocall by Sun News Network, has applied to appear before the CRTC to oppose the network’s request for must-carry status.

Sona submitted his application on Tuesday, complaining that Sun TV personality Brian Lilley named him in connection with the Guelph robocall without giving him the opportunity to comment, a breach of proper journalistic practices.

Ex-Tory staffer linked to '11 robocalls speaks out about latest scandal

An ex-Tory staffer who’s been linked to the robocalls scandal that followed the 2011 federal election says the Conservative Party has lost credibility in its handling of the latest controversy.

Michael Sona told CTV’s Question Period on Sunday that he’s been portrayed as a rogue operative behind the thousands of calls made to the Guelph, Ont. riding that directed voters to go to the wrong polling stations.

Elections Canada: Robocalls came from computer used by Tory campaigner

OTTAWA—Misleading robocalls originated from the same computer IP address used by a worker on the campaign of Guelph Conservative candidate Marty Burke, according to new court documents filed by Elections Canada.

Investigator Allan Mathews says in an affidavit that between April 30 and May 2, two unique computer addresses — one that links to a proxy server — were used to access RackNine by Burke’s deputy campaign manager Andrew Prescott and also by the person who paid for misleading robocalls sent to 6,737 Guelph-area numbers on Election Day.

“At a minimum,” writes Mathews, the computer log information means the two “used the same computer” on May 1 at around 9 p.m., “and that a single computer appears to have been used to access RackNine — the Edmonton-based automated dialing and voice broadcast service — both directly and by way of the proxy server on several occasions.”

The Guelph telephone numbers that were called appear to match — but have not been confirmed as — a list of identified non-Conservative supporters possibly downloaded from the party’s computerized constituent information and issue management system, according to Mathews, who said inquires are ongoing with the Conservative Party.

Young Conservative staffer was shocked to be named in robocalls affair: source

OTTAWA — The young Conservative in the spotlight of the robocall scandal told co-workers on Parliament Hill he was stunned to learn he'd been named in connection with fraudulent calls in the Ontario riding of Guelph by unknown senior figures in the party.

Anonymous Conservatives have repeatedly fingered Michael Sona, singling out him alone among a group of workers on the campaign of Guelph candidate Marty Burke, but a source says Sona had no reason to believe Elections Canada was interested in him until he was named by unidentified senior Tories in a report on Sun News Network the day the story broke.

The agency never interviewed Sona, the communications director for the Burke campaign, until after his abrupt departure from his job working in an MP's office on Parliament Hill on Feb. 24.

Sona himself had no idea his name had been linked to the scandal until he heard it on the Conservative-friendly TV channel staffed by many former party employees. The channel was the first to tie Sona's name to the calls.

Tories throw ministerial responsibility under robo-call bus

Michael Sona is living every political aide’s worst nightmare. The 23-year-old Tory resigned last week in the growing shadow of the Conservative robo-call controversy. His name is now forever affixed to the fallout.

Adam Carroll will meet a similar fate. The recently resigned Liberal staffer published details of Public Safety Minister Vic Toews’s divorce on Twitter under the handle Vikileaks30. Thanks for the memories.

Every staffer lives in the shadow of self-immolation. Every tweet, every joke, every Facebook message invites the prospect of personal catastrophe. If you screw up, the error is permanent, carved into stone by Google, Twitter, and 24-hour news.

Dire consequences deter indiscretion. Even the most bull-headed staffers would rather ask permission than forgiveness – as Mr. Carroll now knows, the latter often ends in revising your résumé.

Former Tory staffer urges ‘guilty party’ to take blame in robo-call controversy

A key Conservative campaign worker in Guelph in the last election is calling on the “guilty party” to step forward and acknowledge his or her role in the ongoing robo-call controversy.

Emerging from a week-long silence, former Conservative staffer Michael Sona is denying any involvement in the automated phone calls that directed voters in the Ontario riding of Guelph to the wrong polling station last year. Mr. Sona was the director of communications to candidate Marty Burke during the election campaign.

He resigned last week from his position in the office of Conservative MP Eve Adams, but he said he did so only because the controversy prevented him from doing his job.

“I have remained silent to this point with the hope that the real guilty party would be apprehended. The rumours continue to swirl, and media are now involving my family, so I feel that it is imperative that I respond,” Mr. Sona said in a statement to CTV News.

Michael Sona Fired: Conservative Staffer With Ties To Guelph Riding Let Go

Michael Sona, a young Conservative parliamentary staffer who worked on the federal election campaign in Guelph, Ontario, has been let go, The Huffington Post Canada has learned.

The move comes days after a Tory robocall scandal erupted and the NDP warned a kid would be called to take the fall.

Sona, 23, was the communications director for Guelph Conservative candidate Marty Burke during last year’s federal election campaign. Sona was working as Conservative MP Eve Adams' assistant when he was fired, two sources confirmed.

A third source, however, suggested Sona’s firing had nothing to do with Adams and that the staffer had resigned on his own accord Thursday night.

Guelph was one of the ridings where misleading pre-recorded election day calls purported to be from Elections Canada were made to identified Liberal supporters telling them the location of their polling station had been changed.

Sona made headlines during the campaign for trying to stop a special ballot vote at the University of Guelph after complaining to Elections Canada that it was illegal.