Rough Week For Canadians

Election fraud is never a topic that can be shoved under the rug. While it may happen in scattered instances in modernized countries and in a more ruthless light in other places around the globe, the attempt to undermine the validity of the voters’ will breaks a basic civic right.

Suspicious and misleading phone calls traced from Racknine, has raised doubt in the validity of the results of the last election. Racknine CEO Matt Meier has been found to have close ties with the Conservative Party as seen in this leak.

The opposition and Conservatives shared attacks but as more evidence arises, more doubt instills on the results from the last election, results that could very well have been different if the scandal hadn’t occurred - especially in several close ridings.

Electoral offenses are not new to the Conservatives, they have pleaded guilty to the In and Out scandal of 2006 to prevent four of their senior members from going to prison. They have also admitted responsibility to the phone calls in Liberal MP Irwin Cotler’s riding that endorsed the Conservative candidate on the basis that Cotler was retiring.

To be fair, while the links point toward the Conservatives, concrete evidence has yet to arise. But this kind of offence to the basic right to fair and legitimate voting should get the maximum obtainable five years in prison for breaking the Elections Act, regardless who committed it and what party they associate with.

In the coming weeks, the opposition will press for certain ridings to be overturned and if the Conservatives are as innocent as they claim, they should have no issues launching a public inquiry.

Robocall is not the only issue on the table, Bill-C30 and Bill-C11 have been hidden from sight lately but they are still alive in the House of Commons and pose a threat to people’s privacy. Bill-C30 would allow the police to monitor and act on your online activities without a warrant - the only protection people have against false accusations. Bill-C10 would enable the government to block access to any site that has any form of piracy.

Both bills have a negative impact on the lives of Canadians and attempt to define them as criminals - or as Public Safety Minister Vic Toews put it, child pornographers. Bill-C30 would also violate Section 8 of our Charter of Rights and Freedoms which reads, “Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure.”

From allegations that the last election was tampered to the intentions of the government to start tapping into our online freedom, one can easily say that it has been a rough week and this is just the beginning.