Liberal campaign in Guelph fined for robocalls violation

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commissionhas found the Liberal riding association in Guelph, Ont. guilty ofviolating the Telecommunications Actfor its use ofan automated robocall in the last federal election.

The phone message from a fictitious woman told voters that Conservative candidate Marty Burke opposed abortion but failed to inform people that the call was from the local campaign of Liberal candidateFrank Valeriote.

The calls made over approximately one houron April 30, 2011 were found notin compliance with the CRTC'sUnsolicited Telecommunications Rules.

The rules require that callsidentify on whose behalfa call is made,provide necessary call-back information and display the originating telephone number or an alternate number where the originator can be reached.

Valeriotewon the 2011 electionwith just over 43 percent of the vote. Burke finished second with 33 percent of the ballots cast.

Burke's campaign asked the CRTC to investigate. The findings of the investigation impose a fine of $4,900 on the Liberal riding association.

In addition to the monetary penalty, the riding association also agreed to implement a "compliance program" for future campaigns, which includes education and training for campaign staff, record-keeping obligations and the appointment of an officer to make sure the rules are followed.

"We appreciate that Mr. Valeriote and the Association fully cooperated with our investigation and committed to comply with the Rules in future campaigns," said Andrea Rosen, the CRTCs Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer, in a press release. "We expect political party associations and candidates who are running for office to put appropriate safeguards in place to ensure compliance with the rules."

Valeriote apologetic

Last March,Conservatives demanded that Valeriote apologize for the robocalls. Valeriote admitted the robocallsoriginated with histeambut said it was an attempt to respond to an issue raised during the campaign and was not meant tosuppress votes.

In a statement issued Friday, Valeriote said he accepted the CRTC's findings. "We were unaware of certain requirements and inadvertently neglected to include some identifying features in the message,"his press release said.

"I take full responsibility and apologize for the infringement," Valeriote said. "This has been an important learning experience, not just for me, but for all MPs and future candidates."

Speaking to CBC News, Valeriote portrayed the calls as a mistake that can be made in the heat of a hard-fought campaign.

"We were under constant attack by particularly the Conservative Party.You'll recallthey tried to steal a ballot box, they tried to slow down votes at an advance poll, they were making late-night calls," he said."Other than making sure that we had put in the proper tag lines and complied with the CRTC rules with respect to this call, I don't think I would have done anything differently."

Valeriote said that the calls were madeon the Saturday two days before the May 2 election, whenthen-Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff had visited the riding. He and his team were "working under a lot of pressure" that day, he said, and wanted to respond to campaign literature distributed by his opponents which incorrectly said he was "pro-abortion."

"The commission's findings are fair," the Liberal MP said."I actually reported myself to Elections Canada before Marty Burke may have been aware of the call or contacted Elections Canada. At my first opportunity I spoke to them to indicate the errors that were made."

Valeriote added that he's volunteered to assist the CRTC in future education efforts about therulesgoverning automated telephone calls in campaigns.

Conservative Party spokesman Fred DeLoreyreacted tothe CRTC's findings on Twitter, writing that "Mr. Valeriote's dirty tricks during the last election campaign are simply shameful."

"What's more shameful?" he continued,"Mr. Valeriote's attempts at covering up these misleading calls."

DeLorey also raised the question of whether the election outcome would have been different without these calls.

'Pierre Poutine' allegations unresolved

Another set of robocalls made in Guelph is currentlyunder intense scrutiny by Elections Canada.

The agency is investigating phone calls that claimed to be on behalf of Elections Canada and tried to direct people to the wrong polling station or polling stations that did not exist. Elections Canada did not use robocalls in Guelph to advise voters of any polling station changes.

TheRCMP has now joined the searchfor the suspect(s) behind the apparent attempt at voter suppression.

So far, the Elections Canada investigation has centered on anindividual who gave afalse name of "Pierre Poutine" to register a disposable cell phone with a phony address and use it toorder the automatedcalls from an outsidecompany, RackNine. "Poutine" paid forthe call service using untraceableprepaid creditcards purchased at two drug stores in Guelph.

TheConservative Party has insisted it had no involvementin this scheme or any misleading robocalls in other ridings.

"I do not want[voters in Guelph]to think for one minute that my call had anything to do with the voter suppression calls that occurred on election day," Valeriote told CBC News.