# The CanaDoper Café (2012 edition of The great, ongoing Canadian current events and politics thread.) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 1, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014 "2012-01-01T03:31:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 32
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/621 "2012-03-06T23:46:18Z")
It’s just stuff [like this](http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Tories+release+phone+records/6255790/story.html) that makes my eyes roll: The Liberals need to prove that they didn’t make the calls themselves, but the Conservatives don’t have to prove anything at all? Maybe it’s just Del Mastro who is a complete and utter idiot, but…come on! This whole mess is just insulting to all Canadians, regardless of party affiliation, and like it or not, it’s the Conservatives who have the power to fix the problem, but they seem reluctant to. It just drives me crazy - perhaps I’ve just been reading too many blogs and news sites today 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![keeganst94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@keeganst94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeganst94)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/622 "2012-03-07T00:00:44Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by **RickJay** > > No, I started like everyone else. > > It’s French IMMERSION. The idea is that you just are dropped into a place where French is spoken and you learn from that. We were just expected to learn the hard way, and we struggled along being incessantly corrected by the teacher. I don’t know when you went to school, but this is absolutely not true, at least not anymore. Grade one is completely french, yes, and it’s mainly designed around building vocabulary and teaching the basic grammatical rules, but you get into a lot more detail on the grammar front, while still operating mostly in french, by IIRC grade three. And explanations and corrections were often made in english, if the concept was difficult. I also remember being taught what avoir and etre are in grade one. How could you possibly operate in the language without understanding what things mean, especially basic things like that? Either things have changed since you were in french immersion, or you had a series of really shitty teachers. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/623 "2012-03-07T00:22:06Z")
> [@keeganst94](#): > > And explanations and corrections were often made in english, if the concept was difficult. I also remember being taught what avoir and etre are in grade one. How could you possibly operate in the language without understanding what things mean, especially basic things like that? Either things have changed since you were in french immersion, or you had a series of really shitty teachers. Both of those last things are probably true, to be honest. But corrected in English? Really? Wow, that would have helped a lot. We absolutely were never, ever corrected in English, ever, nor were we permitted to speak it during the French half of the school day. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/624 "2012-03-07T01:16:34Z")
Freakshow - my dentist is Mitt Romney’s old Mormon missionary partner. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/625 "2012-03-07T01:25:56Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > It’s just stuff [like this](http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Tories+release+phone+records/6255790/story.html) that makes my eyes roll: > > The Liberals need to prove that they didn’t make the calls themselves, but the Conservatives don’t have to prove anything at all? Maybe it’s just Del Mastro who is a complete and utter idiot, but…come on! > > This whole mess is just insulting to all Canadians, regardless of party affiliation, and like it or not, it’s the Conservatives who have the power to fix the problem, but they seem reluctant to. It just drives me crazy - perhaps I’ve just been reading too many blogs and news sites today 🙂 So, what you’re saying is that the Conservatives should be considered guilty until proven innocent. And that they need to release their own records although no warrant has been issued and no wrongdoing has been proven. This flies against your position that innocent web-surfing public should be subject to government inquisition without a warrant. Double standard? ETA: John Q. Public should not share records unless there’s a search warrant. A political party needs to show records although there’s no search warrant. Yeah. Get the evidence, and get a warrant or else stop being so damned hypocritical. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/626 "2012-03-07T03:01:18Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > So, what you’re saying is that the Conservatives should be considered guilty until proven innocent. And that they need to release their own records although no warrant has been issued and no wrongdoing has been proven. This flies against your position that innocent web-surfing public should be subject to government inquisition without a warrant. > > Double standard? > > ETA: John Q. Public should not share records unless there’s a search warrant. A political party needs to show records although there’s no search warrant. Yeah. Get the evidence, and get a warrant or else stop being so damned hypocritical. That is not what I’ve said - you’ve inferred things unsupported by my words. I’m not clamouring for anyone at all to release records publicly or even to anyone without a warrant (or through whatever legal/procedural/governmental rules that may exist) - there is no double standard on that and I am not being hypocritical. What is bugging me - and what _is_ hypocritical - is Del Mastro (and the party position, from what I can see, but he’s doing most of the talking, so I’ll leave it at him for now) demanding that the Liberals and NDP release their data to prove that they didn’t do it while simultaneously saying that the Conservatives will _not_ be releasing their information (to whoever…Elections Canada, the RCMP, the media, whoever needs to know). Either everyone does, or no one does. And since the Liberals and NDP have already said that they would, what are the Conservatives waiting for? And as I’ve said before, _this is not a partisan issue_, but it is being handled as though it was. It is the behaviour and partisan stance on the whole story that is bugging me and that, IMHO, makes our government look bad - it makes Canada look bad. I want to see the government - _my government_ - work as a whole to protect the rights of Canadians rather than play pin-the-blame-on-the-politician. Enough pointing fingers. Find the one - or eight - or eight hundred - people involved in this story and deal with it. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/627 "2012-03-07T03:06:15Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Freakshow - my dentist is Mitt Romney’s old Mormon missionary partner. What, he had a different wife for different positions? Freaky indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/628 "2012-03-07T04:25:37Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > What, he had a different wife for different positions? Freaky indeed. Heh heh heh. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/629 "2012-03-07T06:23:49Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > They have pretty clearly said that; I’m not sure what else there is to be said. They’ve said it’s unacceptable, and handed the matter to EC and the RCMP. What more do you want? No, they have actually said “The conservative party did not do anything wrong. We know this is true because we just said it.” First though, they tried to blame “a lone operative” , and threw a 23 year old under the bus. When that didn’t wash… The Conservatives then tried to blame the scandal on the Liberal party. I guess its’ OK to accuse a party before EC and the RCMP have investigated if it’s the OTHER party eh? In a bizarre twist, conservative MP Maurice Vellacott then tried to claim the scandal was the FAULT OF ELECTIONS CANADA. No, I am not making this up. About the only one they have not blamed yet is Micky Mouse. > [@RickJay](#): > > What powers have been denied to Elections Canada and why should they have them? Funny you should ask that. The conservative party [has recently denied](http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/03/06/pol-robocalls-chief-electoral-officer-powers.html?cmp=rss) Elections Canada’s request to have the power to demand receipts for political parties’ election spending. Last year the Conservatives would not vote for a bill that gave Elections Canada more powers to investigate crimes. I think that EC should be able to look at the freaking receipts of election spending. What do you think? This stinks. It is beyond pathetic. If the Conservatives are not guilty as hell, they are certainly doing a great impression of being guilty as hell. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Doom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Dr\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/630 "2012-03-07T13:55:54Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > What, he had a different wife for different positions? Freaky indeed. Ummm, isn’t that, like, in **bold print** on page 3 of the Mormon handbook? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/631 "2012-03-07T14:00:47Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > … > > Funny you should ask that. > > The conservative party [has recently denied](http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/03/06/pol-robocalls-chief-electoral-officer-powers.html?cmp=rss) Elections Canada’s request to have the power to demand receipts for political parties’ election spending. > > Last year the Conservatives would not vote for a bill that gave Elections Canada more powers to investigate crimes. > > I think that EC should be able to look at the freaking receipts of election spending. What do you think? > This stinks. It is beyond pathetic. If the Conservatives are not guilty as hell, they are certainly doing a great impression of being guilty as hell. The longer this robocall thing drags on, and the lack of hard evidence, apart from the rogue Pierre Poutine calls in Guelph, makes me think this is absolutely a non-issue. From the above link: > [@](#): > > In his report on the **2008** federal election, Canada’s chief electoral officer asked MPs to give him the power to request **supporting documents** from political parties for their expenses. Individual candidates are already required to provide their receipts, as are leadership contestants, Marc Mayrand told the procedure and House affairs committee. What exactly are supporting documents, and how was the **2008** election different than any other election in Canadian history? And how is the **2008** election associated with this issue at all? I can’t imagine in past elections that this power was available, and now, due to the robocall controversy the CBC is digging up this gem from 4 years ago? Lovely. Now, it’s clear that the so-called 30,000 “[complaints](http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2012/03/06/19468066.html)” are nothing more than form letters filled out at left wing websites. > [@](#): > > Flooded by communications from political parties and groups, such as the left-wing Leadnow.ca and the U.S.-based [Avaaz.org](http://Avaaz.org), Elections Canada is begging anyone concerned about robocalls in the 2011 election to use its centralized portal for complaints. To me, this is really starting to smell like a whole bunch of sore losers with time on their hands. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/632 "2012-03-07T15:43:37Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Now, it’s clear that the so-called 30,000 “[complaints](http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2012/03/06/19468066.html)” are nothing more than form letters filled out at left wing websites. > > To me, this is really starting to smell like a whole bunch of sore losers with time on their hands. No, it’s not clear at all from your link. In fact, I personally know people who received calls (not in Guelph) who have complained to EC. These people do not have a clue who [Avaaz.org](http://Avaaz.org) is, nor are they “left-wingers”. They are Canadians who are pissed off that they received phone calls in the last election that specifically directed them to a polling station that did not exist. They did not complain before because they thought at the time it was an error. Now they know that it was part of an orchestrated campaign. Your attempt to smear Canadians who received fraudulent calls as “left-wingers” is directly out of the Conservative playbook. Good job. “Snoozy” Rob Anders might have a job for you. Why don’t you say that they’re all Putin supporters while you’re at it? Before, you were saying “lets wait for an investigation”. Now you’re dismissing the investigation when it has just begun. Pathetic. And typical. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/633 "2012-03-07T15:54:03Z")
My impression on the RoboCall scandal is somewhat down the middle: I think there was in fact some bad behaviour going on by the Conservatives, but that the extent and severity of that bad behaviour has been inflated by the other parties seeking to make hay while the sun shines (so to speak) and organizing/encouraging people to make complaints, the validity of which are now impossible to check (calls from years ago, remembered). It would be contrary to human nature if the hoopla did not have the effect of creating a lot of, shall we say, somewhat convenient complaining. The problem is of course that the flood of complaints, the majority of which are likely to be impossible to substantiate, will tend to obscure the actual wrong-doing. By making too big a deal about it, the other parties are risking losing public credibility concerning the scandal. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/634 "2012-03-07T15:56:11Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > No, it’s not clear at all from your link. > > In fact, I personally know people who received calls (not in Guelph) who have complained to EC. These people do not have a clue who [Avaaz.org](http://Avaaz.org) is, nor are they “left-wingers”. They are Canadians who are pissed off that they received phone calls in the last election that specifically directed them to a polling station that did not exist. They did not complain before because they thought at the time it was an error. Now they know that it was part of an orchestrated campaign. > > Your attempt to smear Canadians who received fraudulent calls as “left-wingers” is directly out of the Conservative playbook. Good job. “Snoozy” Rob Anders might have a job for you. Why don’t you say that they’re all Putin supporters while you’re at it? > > Before, you were saying “lets wait for an investigation”. Now you’re dismissing the investigation when it has just begun. Pathetic. And typical. Left wing was the term used in the linked article: not mine. And I stand by the use of my terms “makes me think this is absolutely a non-issue” and “starting to smell like a whole bunch of sore losers.” I’m not dismissing any further investigation; I welcome it. My personal opinion is that the investigation will not find any proof of any concerted and sanctioned effort to defraud voters of their right to vote by the Conservative Party. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/635 "2012-03-07T16:32:46Z")
Various conservative candidates who did not win seats in the previous election are saying that their campaigns were used by the [federal party to move money through](http://www.ledevoir.com/politique/canada/344016/un-autre-in-and-out-au-quebec) (in and out - link is in French, I’ll look for an English one) to pay for RMG contracts - one of the call centres tied up in this whole mess. RMG is the firm where a former employee claims to have been told to make misleading calls and where she deviated from the script because she wasn’t comfortable with what she was being asked to say. It’s unclear just what services this money was being used for (by that I mean that while there were certainly very legitimate services, the candidates aren’t really sure what they were paying because they, themselves, received very little or nothing in particular back). There is so much information coming out, so much to filter, but I think it’s silly to claim that this is just all made up in some sort of smear campaign. That just doesn’t even make much sense - the opposition has much more to lose than they would have to gain if this were to backfire on them, which it would following a thorough police investigation. I think calling concerned people “sore losers” is disrespectful. I would be just as riled up about this if this was tied to the party I voted for. “He did it too!” is not and will never be a valid defence. I do not support criminals in my preferred party, and I will not support them in any other party. If any Liberals or NDP or anyone else took part in any of this, then I expect them to be punished with the full force of the law as well. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/636 "2012-03-07T16:40:00Z")
The [Toronto Star](http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1142109--robocalls-elections-canada-expands-probe-into-fraudulent-messages-in-2011-vote?bn=1) has some mention of the info in the French article I linked to: > [@](#): > > Meanwhile, Le Devoir has raised questions about whether the national campaign effectively transferred money “in and out” to local campaign accounts, not for advertising expenses, but for voter identification and mobilization purposes. > > The Quebec newspaper reported that at least two Conservative candidates in Quebec agreed to requests by the national campaign office to pay money to RMG — the Toronto-based Responsive Marketing Group — during the 2011 campaign but told the newspaper they did not know exactly what services were rendered for the money. > > “We were a kind of mailbox for funding that,” Le Devoir quoted defeated Conservative candidate Bertin Denis, who lost to the NDP’s Guy Caron in the riding of Rimouski-Neigette-Témiscouata-Les Basques. “We had nothing to say on the operations of it. They didn’t call me, and nobody was called. I wasn’t part of a survey, nobody consulted me.” > > Denis said his riding had been targeted by Conservative Party headquarters as winnable, so the party agreed to spend more on it, putting some $55,000 into the campaign. > > “We didn’t pay (the contract with RMG)” he is quoted in Le Devoir. “The funding came from the national and we wrote a cheque.” > > His official agent Ghislain Pelletier confirmed to Le Devoir that “we were strongly advised to take it.” > > Pelletier said the Conservative Party “sent us the bill and I paid it on the recommendation of the party.” > > Asked if the party or RMG supplied the local campaign with the results of the calls, Pelletier, a trained accountant, said: “Absolutely nothing, ma’am. If I were in a private business, I would have demanded a report.” > > The Conservative Party later issued a statement from Denis, saying it was a local campaign expense for RMG to undertake voter identification in the riding. > > Le Devoir also cited the riding of Chicoutimi–Le Fjord as another among 18 Quebec ridings that recorded expenses of varying amounts paid to RMG. > > In that riding, former journalist Carol Néron, who ran for the Conservatives and lost, admitted he got reports on voting intentions for the $15,000.01 charged to his campaign. But, he said, “I can’t really say if I got my money’s worth or not.” ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/637 "2012-03-07T16:41:52Z")
I think it’s more reasonable to assume that no one has (or had) any idea how to flag issues to Elections Canada (EC). In that vacuum, given the accusation is against the Conservatives, non conservative interest groups would fill the record generating vacuum. Look - no plot, no “left wing” conspiracy but at the same time a large number of inconsistent complaints due to the vacuum EC inadvertently created. That said, the Conservatives behavior in the In and Out scandal, the intentionally misleading calls in Irwin Cotler’s riding, the immediate and incorrect accusation that the calls came from the Liberals has done nothing to change a narrative that the Conservatives will do anything to win. Couple that with Anders’ and Towes’ recent idiocy and the pool of available good will is even smaller. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/638 "2012-03-07T18:09:36Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > What exactly are supporting documents, and how was the **2008** election different than any other election in Canadian history? And how is the **2008** election associated with this issue at all? I can’t imagine in past elections that this power was available, and now, due to the robocall controversy the CBC is digging up this gem from 4 years ago? Lovely. Since I’m sure you think that the CBC is the home of socialists and leftists, here’s an article that explains more, by that noted left-leaning media source, the[National Post](http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/07/harper-slammed-for-denying-elections-boss-new-powers-to-probe-party-expenses/) Note that the National Post has actually been the media source that has been chasing this story, and actually investigating. Nice try at dragging the CBC (every conservative’s favorite whipping boy) into it though. > [@](#): > > Harper sidestepped direct answers to the questions. What a surprise. > [@](#): > > Harper and his parliamentary secretary, Dean Del Mastro, refused to explain why — before the scandal even broke two weeks ago — the Tories used their majority on a Commons committee to deny new auditing powers to chief electoral officer Marc Mayrand. Oh, and about the horrible American leftist site that has been used to lodge protests? Well EC has finally unveiled an online site here where Canadians can send them complaints. I wonder why the public had to turn to different place to lodge complaints a few days ago, hmmm? > [@](#): > > Elections Canada released another statement Tuesday, directing the public to an “online complaint form” if they want to lodge concerns or provide information about the robocalls issue. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/639 "2012-03-07T18:20:21Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Since I’m sure you think that the CBC is the home of socialists and leftists, here’s an article that explains more, by that noted left-leaning media source, the[National Post](http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/07/harper-slammed-for-denying-elections-boss-new-powers-to-probe-party-expenses/) Yeah, it does explain more: > [@](#): > > Early Tuesday evening, the government offered an explanation through one of its MPs, who said the Tories objected to the increased costs that taxpayers would have to bear if Mayrand were given extra powers and then hired new auditors for his own office. > > Instead, said Conservative MP Tom Lukiwski, they chose a second option — requiring parties to foot the bill by hiring independent private-sector compliance auditors to review their election expenses. Either way, said Lukiwski, Canadians can be assured an independent audit will occur. I’m not sure why you’re attacking me over this. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/640 "2012-03-07T18:52:45Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Yeah, it does explain more: > > I’m not sure why you’re attacking me over this. Because you’re acting like a Harper Government apologist. The reason that the Harper Government did not want Elections Canada to have the power to order documents to verify party expenses was to “save costs?” Do you expect the public to buy that? Seriously? They only have cost savings in mind, nothing else. Do you want to go with that? You are aware that those that oversee the provincial elections already have these powers, yes? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014.md?page=31) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014.md?page=33)