Elections Canada continued bias

During the round table debate; Stephane Dion began to chastise Stephen Harper and the Conservatives for a lawsuit against Elections Canada. We know for reasons that were purely political.

It begins with the Liberals and a flock of photographers who arrive at Conservative headquarters with Election Canada officials and RCMP.

Seized papers linked to lawsuit

Tory officials say they are in the dark as to why exactly elections commissioner William Corbett, who is the chief investigator of alleged Elections Act violations, went to the lengths of getting a sealed search warrant, issued in Toronto.
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The party received a copy of the warrant outlining the kinds of material Elections Canada investigators sought on their premises, but apparently no indication of the exact purpose of the warrant or what potential charges or allegations they might face.
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Harper was not in the Commons to answer questions, but government House leader Peter Van Loan said in answer to similar demands from the Bloc Québécois that the party is as baffled as anyone else about the need for the search.

"The essential question is something we are interested in and that is what was in that affidavit that justified it? We have not seen it. If the member wants to know, he is going to have to ask Elections Canada as we are ourselves."

Election Canada's Enright refused to comment when asked why Corbett sought to seal the warrant, or to say when investigators are obliged to report back to court on the seizures.

Nor would he comment when asked if the agency would unseal the file if the Conservatives consented.

I did not know that Elections Canada had this kind of power. Make up warrants with vague reasons and get the RCMP to act on it and somehow someone tip-offs the Liberals that a warrant is being enforced against the Conservatives.

Since this particular lawsuit is still ongoing and results are not known; I want to bring up Election Canada's continued bias towards the Conservatives.

Internet bid to sell vote draws rebuke from Elections Canada

A Victoria man trying to sell his federal election vote on Craigslist may be doing it for a lark, but Elections Canada is not amused.

The ad appeared on the buy-and-sell website on Sunday morning. It says "My vote for the Federal Election on Oct. 14, 2008, is for sale to the highest bidder!" and lists an e-mail address for bids.

Susan Friend, regional media adviser for Elections Canada, was made aware of the ad Monday and filed a report yesterday to Elections Canada.

"Selling one's vote or otherwise improperly giving another person one's ballot is a serious offense under the Canada Elections Act," said Friend.

Serious offense? Improperly giving another person one's ballot? You would think trading one ballot for another would be a serious offense too.

Online vote-swapping legal

Canada's electoral watchdog has deemed online vote-swapping to be legal but warned that the scheme could be used to dupe voters into casting their ballot for certain parties.

Elections Canada began looking into the issue after a Facebook group surfaced last week urging people living in ridings likely to have tight races to swap votes as a way to keep Stephen Harper's Conservatives from winning a majority.

James Hale, a spokesman for the federal agency, said the act of encouraging someone to vote in a particular way is allowed under the Elections Act.

It's also acceptable for people to invite voters to participate in an organized strategic voting plan, whether on the internet or through other means, he said.

Is Elections Canada showing incredible bias against the Conservatives? Hmmm.. lets dig further.

Liberal official apologizes for removing political signs put up by Conservatives

The executive director of the Liberal Party of Prince Edward Island is apologizing after he was caught on camera removing political signs put in place by local Conservatives.
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A call was made to Elections Canada and Elections Canada told them to take them down,” Kane said, in an interview.
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“If anyone was taking down signs that were put there by another party, then they should not have been and they certainly weren’t doing so with my authorization or blessing and it’s unfortunate,” said Murphy.
Dana Doiron, a spokesman for Elections Canada, admits an official from Elections Canada in Ottawa did tell the Liberals to take down the sign — something that should not have happened.
He said Elections Canada has apologized.
If an illegal sign is in place, a complaint needs to be launched with the Commissioner of Elections and it is the commissioner who decides if the sign needs to be removed — not Elections Canada.
“The error was in making a judgment remotely. It’s not our business.”

Let's look at some of the judgments by Elections Canada.

Canada Elections entered into a compliance agreement with Blair Wilson, who was a candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada in the 2006 - I didn't see any penalties.

Canada Elections entered into a compliance agreement with Liberal McGill - again no penalties.

Canada Elections entered into a compliance agreement with Mr. John Gagnon - based on his history President Local 5385 of the United Steelworkers and the strong ties to NDP/Liberals for these unions there are again no penalties

Canada Elections entered into a compliance agreement with The British Columbia Marijuana Party - looks like lawbreakers even get a break from the commissioner WILLIAM H. CORBETT with no penalties.

So why should anyone really comply with Elections Canada?