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.

Robocall Scandal: RCMP Raid Racknine

Racknine recently got a visit from the RCMP who obtained a search warrant into the company in hopes to find answers about over 40 ridings filled with allegations of misleading robocalls. Racknine has been asked to hand over data, like emails and billing records that link it to the Conservative campaign in Guelph, Ontario where the accusations started.

The RCMP are also asking for all records of a disposable cellphone number that was traced from Joliette, Quebec.

Opposition parties recently slammed the Conservatives claiming that they were behind a ‘dirty tricks’ campaign and today during Question Period, Harper challenged the opposition to bring forward evidence. Meanwhile, the Conservatives say they are conducting an internal investigation into the matter.

The RCMP and Elections Canada are looking into calls in 18 ridings.

If the robocalls wasn’t enough, it was found yesterday that a call center in Thunder Bay was facilitating scripted recruits as part of a live deliberate misleading scheme, claiming to be speaking on behalf of the Conservative Party.

“We would call these (voters) and they would say ‘we went there and that’s not a real place,’” a woman who worked for Responsive Marketing Group Inc as a call operator said, asking to maintain anonymity.

“The whole call center (noticed it was happening).”

“We called the RCMP. We actually told our supervisor about it.”

Employees were told to stick with the script and management did nothing about the advisory.

In the days approaching election day, Elections Canada said it changed 127 polling stations.

Last week, Conservative staffer Michael Sona resigned his post after being linked to robocalls. According to CTV, sources say Sona is not “tech savvy” and “couldn’t have done the robocalls on his own,” stating that he was “thrown under the bus.”

Commons speaker Andrew Sheer, initially a Conservative MP, rejected Liberal Interim Leader Bob Rae’s urge for an emergency debate citing investigations being conducted by Elections Canada and the RCMP.

Meanwhile, the Liberals are looking into overturning election results in selected ridings where they suspect they lost due to the ‘dirty tricks’ campaign. Rae said earlier this week that about 27 ridings may have been lost due to this scandal.

The former Chief Electoral Officer of Elections Canada, Jean-Pierre Kingsley said the latest news and the amount of ridings that are involved in this scandal worries him, along with the fact that it may be difficult to trace the guilty party.

Robocall Scandal: Watching Closely Contested Ridings

The election of May 2011 brought about a narrow majority win for the Conservatives. As many as 14 ridings can determine the fate of the Conservative government where voting results came razor thin, 6848 for 14 ridings.

Below are the narrow victories that brought Harper to power, those that are stared* are on the list of Robocall victims.

Riding	Conservative	Liberal	Margin of Victory	Other
Nipissing-Timiskaming (ON)*	15,495	15,477	18	11,299
Labrador (NL)	4,256	4,177	79	2,259
Etobicoke Centre (ON)*	21,661	21,635	26	9,185
Don Valley West (ON)	22,962	22,351	611	7,983
Mississauga-East-Cooksville (ON)*	18,796	18,120	676	9,868
Winnipeg South Centre (MB)*	15,506	14,784	722	9,328
Yukon	5,422	5,290	132	5,345
Don Valley East (ON)	14,422	13,552	870	10,992

 

Riding	Conservative	NDP	Margin of Victory	Other
Bramalea-Gore-Malton (ON)	19,907	19,368	539	18,150
Saskatoon Rosetown Biggar (SK)	14,652	14,114	538	1,323
Elmwood-Transcona (MB)	15,298	14,998	300	2,677
Lotbiniere-Chutes-de-la-Chaudiere (QC)	22,460	21,683	777	12,183
Desenthe-Missinippi-Churchill River (SK)	10,509	9,715	794	1,704
Palliser (SK)	15,850	15,084	766	2,892

 

	Conservative	Second Place	Margin of Victory	Other
Total	210,348	210,348	6,848	105,188

Source: SFU

The list of ridings affected by the Robocall scandal is growing by the day but these 14 ridings were the closest and most likely to be suspect and upset if the scandal is proven in a criminal investigation.

Robocall Scandal: 34 Ridings and Counting…

Earlier today, it was reported that 29 ridings and counting were effected by Robocalls in the last election. An updated count pits 34 as the cumulative total among the Liberals and NDP, accounting for 11% of the total seats in the House of Commons.

Below are the lists of ridings found to have received misleading calls in the last election.

Liberal

Sydney - Victoria (NS)	Kitchener - Waterloo (ON)	Guelph (ON)
Egmont (PE)	London North Centre (ON)	Simcoe-Grey (ON)
Kitchener - Conestoga (ON)	Mississauga East - Cooksville (ON)	Hamilton East - Stoney Creek (ON)
Etobicoke Centre (ON)	Winnipeg South Centre (MB)	St. Paul's (ON)
Perth - Wellington (ON)	Niagara Falls (ON)	Sudbury (ON)
Cambridge (ON)	Wellington - Halton Hills (ON)	Oakville (ON)
St. Catharines (ON)	Ottawa Orleans (ON)	Willowdale (ON)
Haldimand - Norfolk (ON)	Ottawa West - Nepean (ON)	Saint Boniface (MB)
Eglington-Lawrence (ON)	Parkdale - High Park (ON)	London West (ON)
	Nipissing Timiskaming (ON)

NDP

Ottawa Centre	Thunder Bay-Superior North	Sudbury*
Edmonton East	Parkdale-High Park*	Davenport
Elmwood-Transcona	South Shore-St. Margaret's	Windsor-Tecumseh

*These ridings are also on the Liberals’ List.

Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro has come out claiming the Peterborough (ON) riding was affected as well.

Election Fraud is a serious issue. While it may happen in other countries and while the Conservatives are claiming that it didn’t change the outcome in Guelph, there is no reason or excuse to break the fundamental right to democracy which past generations have fought long and hard to get for us. Those who are willing to ignore these sacrifices and take our rights for granted are unworthy of such rights. There is nothing worse than having the right to democratic procedure taken from you through deception which is the equivalent to having ballot boxes stuffed and people with clubs blocking the entrance to the ballot box.

Anyone who is caught disrupting democratic process should be punished under the highest extent of the law. It is already bad enough that four Tory members avoided prison by pleading guilty to the In and Out scandal. Here’s hoping that if proven to be guilty of the Robocall scandal that they get the maximum available prison sentence regardless if they plead or are proven guilty. Otherwise, where is the justice and legitimacy of our election system if we give fraudsters a slap on the wrist for such a heinous crime?

Did the Conservatives really win the election? Should we hold a new election?

Anonymous Gives Toews A Week To Comply

Anonymous makes its case clear and aggressively demands Conservatives backtrack and Toews resign.

Yesterday, Anonymous released a video warning Vic Toews and any politician who supports Bill C-30 that scandals will be surfaced in 7 days if they did not kill Bill C-30 and Bill-C11 and have Vic Toews resign and give a formal apology to Canadians for calling them supporters of pedophilia and attempting to infringe on “basic civil rights.”

Today, they attacked the computers at the The Ontario Association of Police Chiefs – who support C-30 – stating on Twitter:

People of Canada: Ask yourselves, if the police cannot even secure their own information, how will they secure yours? #c30 #victoews

— Anonymous (@AnonsOfCanada) February 25, 2012

However, Joe Couto, spokesman for The Ontario Association of Police Chiefs said that the attack only reinforced their support for the bill.

“What this does is demonstrate quite clearly to Canadians the type of cyber crimes perpetuated every day,” Couto said.

“The citizens of this province and this country are asking us to address cyber crimes and we need tools for that.”

Anonymous revealed that the purpose of the bill was never to protect child pornography, as Toews stated in his controversial remark not too long ago where he called anyone who didn’t support him a supporter of child pornography.

Anonymous goes on to slam how ‘convenient’ Bill C-30 is when they plan to pass Bill C-11 which would make every Canadian who shares or backs up content of any kind a criminal.

Bill C-11 would allow the Canadian government to block Canadian access to YouTube on the basis that it contains material that supports piracy.

Anonymous revealed that Bill C-30 was originally named “An act to enact the investigating and preventing criminal electronic communications act and to amend the criminal code and other acts,” but renamed it to “The protecting children from predators act” to make it an easier sell to Canadians.

Anonymous warns that it is “becoming impatient” and that it has evidence that links Vic Toews and other Conservative MPs to serious crimes in their past – crimes, they state, have been used to stay in power. Some of the scandals extend to the highest levels of government.

Anonymous finishes by asking parliamentarians to reflect on how many more scandals and crimes they want revealed in light of the election fraud scandal.

“A government that doesn’t allow its people any secrets are not allowed any secrets of its own,” they justifiably conclude.

Liberals Demand Full Investigation into Robocalls

Liberal Interim Leader Bob Rae said in a press conference today that he wants a full investigation into the Robocalls that have affected over 29 ridings so far. The Liberals have evidence that links 27 ridings to automated calls which falsely told voters that their polling stations had changed.

Rae accuses Harper of running a dirty tricks campaign and has sent a letter to the Speaker requesting an emergency debate on the matter. Harper denies having knowledge of the phony calls.

Open publication - Free publishing - More bob rae

"Dirty tricks are not permissible at any time," Rae said.

Rae goes as far as to claim that the dirty tricks contributed to the defeat in at least 27 ridings, stating that the tactics were the equivalent of "stuffing a ballot box."

He called on the Prime Minister and any Conservative MP or official with information to turn it over to the RCMP or Elections Canada.

In an independent investigation, the calls were found to have come from Racknine whose owner has been recently found to have strong connections with the Conservative party.

NDP Leaks more Links Between Racknine and Harper Government

NDP researcher James Valcke has released images via his Twitter account which add more links between the Conservatives and Racknine President Matt Meier.

The pictures show several scenes of him during the 2008 election campaign backing Harper and his campaign staff and on September 14, 2010, showing off his government check stating, “It’s true, the government really does pay!” to his Facebook followers.

Meier explained that the cheque was “to the company for some services rendered." Rendering services? Which services?

On September 26, 2008, Meier was with Harper and his guard as they toured the nation in looks for more votes.

Matt Meier is a lot closer to the Conservatives than he says he is and with his company at the heart of the Robocall scandal, one must wonder how deep the roots go and how large an organization was built to carry out Harper’s seemingly fraudulent election machine.

Twenty-nine Ridings and Counting…

The Liberals and NDP have collectively counted 29 ridings that were affected by Harper’s robocall scandal during the May 2011 election campaign.

The opposition has come out in full force slamming the legitimacy of the current House of Commons in both the NDP news conference held by MP Pat Martin and in the letter asking the Speaker of the House of Commons for an emergency debate on the matter.

In an interview with Evan Solomon on CBC’s The House, Liberal Interim Leader Bob Rae said, "There's a very disturbing pattern underway of direct misinformation, essentially lies being phoned in to a variety of ridings" during the last election.

"This isn't voter suppression, it's the equivalent of stuffing a ballot box."

The allegations and fury come as The Ottawa Citizen released its own investigation revealing that Elections Canada traced fraudulent phone calls to Racknine.

Conservative Party Spokesman Fred DeLorey told CBC in an email, "We are not aware of substantiated allegations in any of these other ridings."

"The Conservative Party of Canada ran a clean and ethical campaign and would never tolerate such activity. Anyone who has information has an obligation to get it to Elections Canada immediately."

However, Election Fraud dates back with the Tories to 2006 where they overspent and pleaded guilty to avoid jail time for four prominent members.

If proven through a criminal investigation that the Conservatives were behind the robocalls directed at strategic Opposition ridings, then they may face $5,000 in fines and/or 5 years in prison for breaking the Canada Election Act.

Young Guelph staffer Michael Sona has already resigned and is being pinned as a rogue operator however no one is buying the idea that one man could single-handedly run a fraudulent campaign in over 29 ridings. The same man is responsible for voiding a ballot box in advanced voting sessions at Guelph University.

Election Fraud is a serious issue. While it may happen in other countries and while the Conservatives are claiming that it didn’t change the outcome in Guelph, there is no reason or excuse to break the fundamental right to democracy which past generations have fought long and hard to get for us. Those who are willing to ignore these sacrifices and take our rights for granted are unworthy of such rights. There is nothing worse than having the right to democratic procedure taken from you through deception which is the equivalent to having ballot boxes stuffed and people with clubs blocking the entrance to the ballot box.

Anyone who is caught disrupting democratic process should be punished under the highest extent of the law. It is already bad enough that four Tory members avoided prison by pleading guilty to the In and Out scandal. Here’s hoping that if proven to be guilty of the Robocall scandal that they get the maximum available prison sentence regardless if they plead or are proven guilty. Otherwise, where is the justice and legitimacy of our election system if we give fraudsters a slap on the wrist for such a heinous crime?

Did the Conservatives really win the election? Should we hold a new election?

A Conservative Government?

In 2006, Stephen Harper’s Conservatives won a minority over Paul Martin’s Liberals. The campaign consisted of two main themes: the sponsorship scandal and tax cuts. One must wonder why the Conservatives won: was it in protest against the Liberal sponsorship scandal? Was it because the GST was promised to be cut by 2%? Or was it because the votes were rigged?

It isn’t everyday that Canadians should have to worry about vote rigging. We know it exists elsewhere and some believe it’s how George W. Bush won over Al Gore in 2000 in the United States. Amid the second major scandal concerning electoral procedure, should a criminal investigation find results that prove the Conservatives rigged the 2011 election, who is to say that the 2006 and 2008 elections were legitimate? Wasn’t the last scandal – concerning overspending which led to the guilty verdict of the Conservative party to prevent 4 prominent members from going to jail dated back to 2006?

A cloud of doubt looms over the legitimacy of the last election result. The narrow win, the drastic shift of Bloc and Liberal voters to the Conservatives and NDP – did it really happen or was it all a ploy? A government which owns a powerful majority based on 39% of the vote cast by 61% of eligible voters, one must wonder how such a minority won a majority. Advocates may be waning on the idea of electoral reform, they may claim vote splitting and a number of factors were responsible, but what if the recent attack on Canadian democracy was the real cause?

Anyone who can be seen as cheating – multiple times – in elections is bound to be suspect to skepticism. The in and out scandal – proven and guilty verdict registered, the phony calls to Irwin Cotler’s riding, the robocalls which struck strategic Liberal ridings – a staffer in Guelph has already resigned, the list is getting quite long – add what Harper has to say about the Canadian public and one will get outraged.

The NDP and Liberals are taking the situation seriously. The NDP held a news conference administered by Pat Martin and Liberal Interim Leader Bob Rae is asking for an emergency debate on the matter.

NDP MP Pat Martin holds press conference addressing Conservative election fraud

Bob Rae's Letter to the Speaker:

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So when will a criminal investigation be called and if proven, what does it mean about the transparency of Elections Canada and the validity of the election results over the past decade – or two?

Tories Responsible for More Electoral Fraud?

The Conservatives have a notorious record with electoral fraud being fined and having four prominent members nearly charged criminally. During the 2011 election campaign, Liberals from across the country got harassing phone calls and after an Elections Canada probe, links have been found with the Conservative Party.

The calls trace to Racknine, an Edmonton voice-broadcast company who has worked with the Tories all across the country. They managed the campaigns of 9 MPs, one of them being Prime Minister Harper himself, however, there is no evidence that Harpers campaign was behind the calls.

While Elections Canada and the RCMP are still investigating the matter, the Conservatives have launched an internal probe of their own. The Tory lawyer I gathering information to find out who was behind the deceptive robocalls.

The investigation launched after election day after a slew of complaints in Guelph, Ontario, one of 18 ridings where Liberals were targeted by deceptive messaging to discourage them from voting.

In hopes to make gains Tories pretended to be from Elections Canada rerouting Liberal voters to the wrong polling station discouraging them from voting after a chaotic scene.

Conservative Party Spokesman Fred DeLorey said the party didn’t know who was behind the calls and declined to say how much business took place between the Party and the firm.

The chase began with a telephone number using the 450 area code in Joliette and led to Racknine.

Transcript of a call sent to a voter in Guelph on May 2, 2011

“This is an automated message from Elections Canada. Due to a projected increase in voter turnout, your poll location has been changed. Your new voting location is at the Old Quebec Street Mall, at 55 Wyndham Street North. Once again, your new poll location is at the Old Quebec Street Mall, at 55 Wyndham Street North. If you have any questions, please call our hotline at 1-800-443-4456. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. (French version recorded in another woman’s voice follows.)”

Telephone records and billing logs led Elections Canada to Racknine’s owner, Matt Meier who said he was unaware of the situation.

“We couldn’t possibly have known that it was Racknine that was the initiator of the fake calls,” he said. “I had no idea what the content of the calls were.”

The company doesn’t monitor outgoing calls but Meier estimated that about 10 million calls from 200 accounts were made during the campaign.

Meier said he couldn’t reveal the person due to confidentiality but said it was someone from the east (Ontario or Quebec).

Calls were misdirecting voters in over a dozen ridings, mostly in Ontario. They came in the late evening or early morning where rude callers posed as Liberals to alienate them.

Racknine works with the Conservative Party of Canada among Alberta’s Wildrose party and hosted a hospitality suite at the Conservative convention in June.

Meier claims being a helper to Elections Canada and retains being non-partisan.

“What I provided to Elections Canada was comprehensive,” he said. “They know everything. They have every single message recorded by the individuals who did this. That’s something I hope will assist them greatly in determining who made these calls.”

The calls worked as over 100 voters entered the newly arranged voting place in Guelph. When Elections Canada got wind of the situation, they got alarmed and when warnings of the calls came out, Conservative candidate Marty Burke’s campaign went off rail.

Matt Meier maintains his neutrality but according to long distance bills obtained by The Ottawa Citizen and Post Media, the Guelph campaigned called Meier’s cell phone at 7:08 am and the main number at 7:11pm.

Andrew Prescott, a volunteer for the Burke campaign claimed that he wasn’t responsible for the calls but that he was using the calls to warn his voters of the fraudulent activity. Meier confirmed his claim.

Despite the dirty phone calls in Guelph, Liberal MP Frank Valeriote won his riding by an increased margin of over 6000 votes.

If the Commissioner of Canada Elections and RCMP Fraud Investigator Al Mathews find evidence of wrongdoing, the case will be forwarded to Director of Public Prosecutions Brian Saunders to decide whether to lay charges.

This is the same route that was taken after Elections Canada got wind of the Conservatives’ attempt to bypass campaign purchasing laws by using the in-and-out scheme. The Conservatives pleaded guilty in an attempt to avoid criminal charges including years in prison.

Anonymous Demands: Toews Resign, Kill C-30

While Vic Toews fights to the brink for his bill, and attempts to retract claiming he didn’t know it would permit warrantless access to all online and mobile activities, Canadians and activists are fighting back. As Toews hides behind child pornography and attempts to do what Conservatives do best: divide and conquer, the joke is on him as parts of his life entered public light.

These shameful events reveal a man who is contradictory to what he stands for. The Sancrinity of marriage between a man and a woman means nothing to him and if recent allegations are true, his child pornography comments may soon haunt him as more information leaks of his affairs with a much younger baby sitter.

It started with Vikileaks which prompted his quick fight to find the culprit, claiming he was offended by the idea and not by the content, and yet again, he has established himself as a liar, a hypocrite and one who plays by double standards. It continues with Anonymous who is single-handedly responsible for the death of SOPA in the United States. Anonymous has released warnings and are coming through with them, demanding Toews step down and that Bill C-30 be slain.

Second Warning from Anonymous

The Conservatives are muzzling and will sweep it under the rug to try to get it passed in the House of Commons in which they restrict debate time and impose its majority in the House and in the stacked Senate.

Bill C-30 also conflicts with section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms passed in 1982.

Petitions are going around and it is in your best interests to sign them. Open Media and the Liberal Party are good first stops. This is what you get for not getting informed and voting in general elections.

Open Media Petition

Liberal Party of Canada Petition

Benjamin Franklin had strong words back in the day, “Those who are willing to give up their freedom for security deserve neither.”

Bill C-30: Does Your Freedom Belong to the Canadian Government?

Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s Liberals brought in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982. It gave Canadians the ease of mind and abilities to live free and independent lives without having to fear oppressive government regimes and without fearing their home, Canada. Today, Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper is re-inventing what it means to be afraid and watch out, he’s counting on your ignorance.

For the past two weeks, the Canada we know and love has been under siege, this time on the basis of freedom. While the Harper government commands a stronger military role in the world, apparently fighting for freedom abroad, he and his cronies are fighting to take away ours back home.

Let’s take a look at our beloved Charter of Rights and Freedoms as published in 1982. It is the reason we speak our minds and don’t get arrested. It is the reason you have fun on the weekends and don’t fear restrictive order. It is the reason Canada is considered to be one of the best countries in the world to live in. When we look overseas at Libya, Egypt, Syria, and many eastern states, we feel relieved for our safety and liberty, yet saddened for those who are still struggling the long and hard fight for freedom – the same freedom that we may very well be ignorantly giving away.

Nothing can be taken for granted, not even our rights. Bill C-30 Effectively Breaks Section 8 of the Charter.

8. Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure.

Petitions are going around and it is in your best interests to sign them. Open Media and the Liberal Party are good first stops. This is what you get for not getting informed and voting in general elections.

Open Media Petition

Liberal Party of Canada Petition

Benjamin Franklin had strong words back in the day, “Those who are willing to give up their freedom for security deserve neither.”

Toews Doesn’t Like His Private Life Exposed

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews doesn’t like to have his private life exposed but is keen on exposing the lives of Canadians with Bill C-51, renamed to C-30, which would give the government and authorities unrestricted and unwarranted access to everything you do online and on your smartphones.

Every article you read, every video you watch, every comment you make, every conversation you have will be tracked. Should the government dislike your action, expect a police officer to be at your door step.

The Ottawa Sun has revealed that the creation of the @vikileaks30 Twitter account, which actively exposed Toews's messy divorce and contradictory family values, may have came from inside the House of Commons.

The NDP and Tories exchanged fire over Toews’s private life being made public and the idea that his plan would force Canadians to do the same.

The case will go to the Speakers office where an inquiry will be made which will force every MP, including PM Harper to give up all of their internet activity for the past 2 weeks. In terms of tactics, whoever was responsible for this account knew Tory MPs would drag their feet on self-enforcing their rules and further enforce the argument against their new American-style laws which create and impose Big Brother.

"Now what bothers me is not so much the content of the attacks against me but that there may be members of Parliament or a caucus that is hiding behind the anonymity of government resources to attack me personally," Toews told CBC.

Considering the ugly details about Toews’s ugly divorce, affair and impregnation of his mistress are now all public, he now believes the transparency of his ‘family values’ would have been better left unsaid.

Recent tweets on the site suggest the administrator of the page is unrelated to Parliament, despite findings of the IP address.

“I am not in Ottawa. Many people have access to the email address. The Ottawa Citizen in particular is targeting the wrong person,” Vikileaks posted just before shutting down.

This proves another point. Many innocent people can be falsely targeted for wrong-doing and could turn any Canadian, law-abiding or not, into a criminal. With warrantless access, your fate rests in the hands of the police officer and the Harper Government. Are you really willing to leave your fate in their hands?

Conservatives Play Big Brother

The Conservatives have introduced Bill-C51 which would allow police to access and monitor people's online activities without a warrant.

The Conservatives, who are introducing similar legislation as the United States in a common effort to fight piracy and illegal internet activity are pulling out every string to get their legislation passed.

Liberal Public Safety critic Francis Scarpaleggia alleged during Monday’s question period that the government was “preparing to read Canadians’ emails and track their movements through cellphone signals, in both cases without a warrant.”

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews retaliated telling Scarpaleggia that “he can either stand with us or with the child pornographers.”

NDP MP Charlie Angus fired back in a news conference saying, “We are against this bill and we will fight this bill all the way. Canadians are not criminals.”

Justice Minister Rob Nicolson said his government “will put in place safeguards to protect the privacy of Canadians,” but the privacy watchdog has already raised the red flag.

“Despite repeated calls, no systematic case has yet been made to justify the extent of the new investigative capabilities that would have been created by the bill,” Jennifer Stoddart, federal Privacy Commissioner wrote to the government on the matter.

“Canadian authorities have yet to provide the public with evidence to suggest that CSIS or Canadian police cannot perform their duties under the current regime.

If the concern of law enforcement agencies is that it is difficult to obtain warrants or judicial authorization in a timely way, these administrative challenges should be addressed by administrative solutions rather than by weakening long-standing legal principles that uphold Canadians’ fundamental freedoms.”

Jennifer Stoddart, federal Privacy Commissioner

As the east starts its painful and aggressive overthrow of aggressive and oppressive police-state governments, history repeats itself in an altered form in the west as the emergence of conservative restrictions and authoritarian policies take light. It all began in 2001…

Harper’s Pension Reform: Necessary?

As a part of Harper’s announced “major transformations,” the retirement age will be increased to 67 from 65. The argument is that our current Old Age Security system is unsustainable but when you look at the way the Conservatives manage your money and when you look at their pensions, you just have to wonder if it is necessary.

MP pensions get a 23-to-1 contributor ratio – as in for every dollar they put aside $23 comes out of our pockets. You will be lucky if you get a 5-to-1 ratio in the private sector.

The Canadian Taxpayer Federation estimates that an ordinary working Canadian “would need to save $129,000 per year over six years to provide the same retirement benefit.”

However, while the Conservatives plan to change our pensions and reduce the fruits of our labor, not only do they get luxurious pensions that Canadians will never dream of seeing, they also get to retire a good 10 years earlier.

PM Stephen Harper will retire with a pension of $223,500 per year, Liberal interim leader Bob Rae would get $71,400, 19 year old NDP MP Pierre-Luc Dusseault would get a pension of $40,000 per year if he retired at 27. Are any of you able to do that? Why should you accept that your retirement be first on the chopping block?

We are facing the highest numbers of senior poverty on record and that number is only expected to climb. To think that many people in this country lived dignified and honest lives to work and be overtaxed and then try to retire and end in poverty. And to think that future generations will be even more overtaxed and be punished for retiring.

If we look at how this “prudent” Conservative government has managed the money, we see a very ugly sight. We see an endless list of misplaced priorities and abuse, including $50 million for gazebos, luxurious hotels for Peter Mackay, and shifted priority to American-style prisons and F-35 fighter jets.

All the while, it summed to Canada’s worst economic state since Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservatives left office in the early 1990s.

Before you increase retirement age and cut pensions of ordinary people Mr. Harper, we better see MP pensions decimated, senators laid off and a freeze on MP salaries, and this is just the beginning. Before you attack the work force, the families and the individuals, be sure to get rid of your oversized and wasteful bureaucracy - which is not only the largest its been in history, but also due to your government. Let's not go back to the feudal days of kings and peasants, we all know how that worked out.