Photo by Whitehorse Star
Yukon MP Ryan Lee
Photo by Whitehorse Star
Yukon MP Ryan Lee
Yukon MP Ryan Lee has released his official position on robocalls in his riding: "It wasn't me.”
Yukon MP Ryan Leef has released his official position on robocalls in his riding: "It wasn't me.”
"The bottom line here, for the interest of Yukoners, is that it didn't come from me, it didn't come from my campaign and it didn't come from the Conservative Party of Canada,” he told the Star this morning from Ottawa.
The ongoing robocall scandal came to the surface recently, when many non-Conservative voters across Canada reported receiving calls during the spring 2011 election campaign, directing them to the wrong polling locations on May 2, election day.
Bob Nardi, a longtime Whitehorse resident, says he is one of them.
His home received two calls during the election campaign, he said in an interview today.
The first came from the Conservative Party, asking him whether he would be voting for the party in the coming election.
He wouldn't, he told them.
Nardi said he is not sure whether it was Leef's office, or another who made the call.
A second call was picked up by his wife, Gail, said Nardi.
"The second call came about a week or so before the election,” he said.
"That call told us that instead of voting at Hidden Valley School, we were to head to the Hootalinqua Fire Hall. The source of the call was not identified. They did not say that they were calling on behalf of the Conservatives or Elections Canada.”
The Nardis disregarded the call and were able to vote.
"We checked the written info and figured it was just misinformation or it was a prank call,” he said.
"As the stories came out, our opinion changed from the assumption that it was a mistake to it being an intentional action.”
Gail wrote to Elections Canada and the family spoke with them twice about their experience.
Bob contacted Leef through Facebook, asking about the ordeal, comments, which he said, co-workers claimed were later removed from view.
"I have stood by this position from day one,” Leef told the Star.
"I have said that there is a legitimate need and desire to know the truth behind these allegations and if the calls occurred —which by how many have been reported across the country, it appears they did — and to find out who's responsible.”
Leef won the election against then-Liberal incumbent Larry Bagnell by just 132 votes.
The MP doesn't believe that any potential robocalls in his riding would affect that number.
"Almost immediately after the election, I was being told I won because of vote splitting,” he said. "Now, it's because of robocalls.”
He said he had nothing to do with any such calls.
"You're going to have partisan politics, and I accept that, but what I will not accept is the implication that I engaged in voter fraud or was in any way misleading to Yukoners.”
Leef doesn't believe the federal Conservatives had anything to do with the calls either.
"(Prime Minister) Stephen Harper didn't pick up the phone and call anyone,” said Leef.
" To be perfectly frank, I am pretty sure Stephen Harper didn't even know who I was when I began campaigning.”
Though he said it is becoming increasingly clear that the calls were made, he won't venture to guess who was behind them.
"I am not prepared to deal with the hypothetical aspect right now. As much as this could have been anyone, it could have been the official Opposition,” he said.
"There were some calls made that were inappropriate, if not illegal, which may have been the actions of independent people, hyper-partisans who take decision-making into their own hands. I have seen wild things that would surprise you.”
Leef believes Canadians should wait until the situation has been ironed out by Elections Canada.
"All I have said is let's let Elections Canada do their job, find the info, get to the bottom of this and decide what to do about it. To pre-empt these things and make grandiose
commitments to Canadians is a bit premature.”
Leef said he would hypothetically turn over his campaign's phone records to Elections Canada, though he has not done so yet. He planned to speak with representatives from Elections Canada this afternoon, he said.
Leef challenges Nardi's remarks.
"If he (Nardi) is inferring that I deleted comments to try to hide the issue, that's patently false,” he said. He suggested that Nardi provide his own phone records to Elections Canada.
It is unclear how many Yukoners may have received similar calls.
The investigation into the alleged voter fraud in the 2011 election is ongoing.
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Comments (22)
Up 1 Down 0
Alice Klein on Apr 4, 2012 at 4:01 pm
@RPO and those claiming election results would not change. Robocalls claiming to be from Elections Canada are ILLEGAL. What part of that is so hard for PC supporters to understand? It's not robocalling or voters getting lost. It is AGAINST THE LAW. We made that law because presumably we believe that protecting the right to vote maintains the integrity of our democracy.
Maybe a simple example would help. If someone (we don't know who) shot a gun at your house 70 times, maybe only 1 or 2 times but nobody was hurt, is that okay? Would you want to find out WHO did it? But according to your argument, noone was hurt so stop whining and forget about it.
We need to stop being partisan and look at the country we are defining by our actions, not listen to the rhetoric spewed by politicians and political shills.
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0icu812 on Apr 3, 2012 at 8:48 am
the robocalls may be a way of messing things up a bit, but people not bringing the required I.D, something as simple as yukon electric bill as proof of residency, turned a lot people away and not returned to vote. something I witnessed.
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Just Sayin' on Apr 2, 2012 at 6:41 am
I can't help but feel that if the shoe were on the other foot and fraudulent calls had been made to conservatives only, there would be a lot of sanctimonious rhetoric emanating from the conservative party, with threats to throw the evildoers into some of those new prisons they're going to waste our money on.
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M.D. on Mar 29, 2012 at 2:05 pm
The fact is, those of us who aren't white, male, and owners of property, have had the vote for fewer generations than we have fingers on one hand. It's a lot easier to lose the right to vote than gain it. So tinkering with it has to be taken seriously.
Not that this particular board hasn't turned into a barrel of laughs.
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north_of_60 on Mar 29, 2012 at 10:05 am
RPO is correct and b-b is acting like a sore loser.
All this partisan BS only makes the Left look foolish and desperate. Suck it up, you lost.
The Left lost...now get over it and start working on uniting the Left and fielding competent candidates for the next election.
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RPO on Mar 29, 2012 at 1:53 am
@M.D. a little melodramatic don't you think? "voter's journey as gladiatorial" I feel that people who are gullible enough to believe a complete stranger when they called and said the polling station has changed need to have a good look in the mirror. We don't need to spend millions of dollars nation wide to hold by-elections over this. There isn't any proof that these robocalls influenced the results in any way shape or form. As a matter of fact I have seen reports that said these robocalls backfired on whoever made them. I think that D Drake said it best that there wasn't any reports of robocalls in the Yukon until after the allegations came out on the national news. You will have the opportunity to vote again in 2015.
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bobby bitman on Mar 28, 2012 at 8:18 am
RPO very succinctly outlines the Conservative Party of Canada's outlook on election fraud, undermining democracy, lies, and personal attacks to get what they want. It is all very sociopathic:
"Whoever was gullible enough to fall for this and go to the wrong polling location deserves what they got. All this whining is nothing but sore losers... I guess you won't be that gullible next time."
Thank you very much RPO, for making everybody's arguments for them as to why we should be extremely concerned about Dear Leader and his minions, and their approach to governing Canada.
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M.D. on Mar 28, 2012 at 5:00 am
Martin Lehner, you're not getting it.
The first and most important duty of a politician is to protect the citizen's right to vote -- every citizen's right to vote.
There was one correct response to Nardi, and all Canadians who reported such calls: that Leef -- and politicians in every party -- recognized the significance of the intrusion on the voting process, and would dedicate themselves to solutions. If Leef's office feels like being defensive, then defend the integrity of the vote.
All the rest is just noise. But it is proving exactly how easy it is to suppress the vote incrementally. People had to speak up to discover the pattern, and they're getting personally attacked for it.
Please use your influence to connect, not divide.
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Martin Lehner on Mar 28, 2012 at 2:50 am
@ M.D.: I show no animosity towards Mr. Nardi. I simply asked him to prove evidence of his allegation. This is what ANY court would ask for. Is it unreasonable, or unfair, to request that an accuser provide evidence supporting their accusation ? Innocent until proven guilty, yes ? In my opinion, it is unfair for someone to put forward allegations of illegal activity, and then refuse to support those allegations with evidence that they have access to.
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Not a Conservative on Mar 28, 2012 at 1:51 am
"Leef challenges Nardi's remarks."
Each time the Cons are on the hot seat, they come back with a charge of their own. So childish.
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bobby bitman on Mar 27, 2012 at 2:15 pm
Ryan was doing really well until he started attacking Bob and Gail Nardi. They did not 'infer' anything about Ryan's reasons for deleting the fb posts, they simply stated that they had been deleted. Furthermore, what does handing over their phone records have to do with anything, other than dear Ryan 'inferring' that they themselves have something to hide?
Really poor taste, and yes, it looks like he's been to CPC Smear Class 101 already.
That said, I believe that neither Ryan, nor Steve Harper made these phone calls. And I am glad that our new MP is determined to find out who actually did make the calls. I am sure that most of us would be feeling the same way.
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north_of_60 on Mar 27, 2012 at 2:11 pm
Do some research. Nardi is long time ardent NDP. Just as lame and partisan. It's all political posturing.
RPO is 100% correct, I couldn't state it better.
The opposition would be better served to use their time, money and energy to unite the Left and pick worthy candidates for the next election. All this political griping makes them look like foolish sore losers.
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Anonymous Two on Mar 27, 2012 at 10:38 am
No, Ryan is right, he won the election because of the vote splitting, not the robocalls.
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D Drake on Mar 27, 2012 at 9:09 am
Isn't it funny that the allegations of robocalls in Yukon were made after the allegations were made across Canada. We live in a fish bowl in the Yukon and believe me if these allegations were true we would of heard about this the very next day that they were made. Come on folks. Really!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Martin Lehner on Mar 27, 2012 at 7:54 am
@ M.D., how is Mr. Leef "trying to pass accountability over to Nardi" ? As I stated earlier, Mr. Nardi is the one making the accusation, so it is now his responsibility and accountability to provide the evidence.
It would be like me accusing you of breaking and entering into my home. Is it up to me to prove that you did that action, or is up to you to prove that you didn't ?
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M.D. on Mar 27, 2012 at 7:07 am
Martin Lehner and RPO put forward a vision of the voter's journey as gladiatorial -- the strongest and most quick-witted earn the right to vote by surviving obstacles put in their way, including illegal ambushes. Lehner takes it farther by raising the spectre of the voter defending his rights in front of the judicial system.
Canada's voting philosophy hasn't been founded on principles of innocent until proven guilty, or tests of skill and agility, or court battles. Instead it's been based on keeping it simple to encourage civil participation. That principle has been slowly eroded over the past few years, but these recent events are truly beyond the pale. They are yet another demonstration of just how easily our right to vote can be tampered with.
I'd rather hear a politician say all this, but somehow I think that's not gonna happen.
Leef and Lehner should have been falling all over themselves offering to help Nardi -- same as they would, supposedly, if he needed a passport.
The show of animosity towards him, and presumably anyone else who recounts such an experience, is revealing, and sobering, and also, unsettling.
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M.D. on Mar 27, 2012 at 4:51 am
Leef's response is lame and partisan, and borders on confrontational in his insistence that Nardi produce something -- in other words, trying to pass accountability over to Nardi. Clearly he's been coached by the Conservatives.
Too bad he couldn't just offer more clarity as to Elections Canada's process, which seems to be causing a lot of problems in itself. And even an insincere shout out to the sacred duty of protecting the right to vote would have come off better. The most unschooled, rough, streetwise Yukon politician used to be able to stand up that much for the voter.
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RPO on Mar 27, 2012 at 2:17 am
I do not like the fact that some individuals conducted these robocalls, but come on people! Whoever was gullible enough to fall for this and go to the wrong polling location deserves what they got. All this whining about overturning election results is nothing but sore losers looking for any excuse. I guess you won't be that gullible next time.
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Martin Lehner on Mar 27, 2012 at 12:53 am
Is our judicial system not based on "innocent until proven guilty" ? If so, then it is up to those making the accusations to PROVE their case, not for Mr. Leef or the campaign or anyone else to prove otherwise. If Mr. Nardi is making the accusation that he is, then he should follow up with Elections Canada and provide his phone records.
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Steve E on Mar 26, 2012 at 4:58 pm
I see a citizen advocacy group is asking the Federal Court of Canada to overturn election results in seven ridings including Yukon where telephone dirty tricks may have kept voters away from polls.
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Drew Whittaker on Mar 26, 2012 at 4:26 pm
Yeah, that's a good one: turn it around and have the aggrieved turn over his phone records to prove it. Like a phone bill, perhaps. They record all the incoming call you get. I think...
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anonymous on Mar 26, 2012 at 7:21 am
Why would Nardi provide his phone records? He is not accused of doing something wrong. Seems a little fishy to me, Leef.