On the Robocon front today, Elections
Canada has confirmed that it has received more than 31,000 complaints regarding
these kinds of calls in the last election. Expect this investigation to start
ramping up. Over in Guelph, the deputy campaign manager explains some of the
uses of robo-calls and the accounting trail as to why RackNine didn’t appear
on the Conservative campaign’s expense reports. Here’s more about Elections Canada’s investigation there. Meanwhile, RackNine is suing NDP MP Pat Martin for $5 million for
defamation. And here’s a look at other Conservatives using American calling
companies – that have Republican ties.
Over in Mount Royal in Montreal, the
Conservatives are defending the fact that they hired their candidate there as a
“regional advisor” to the heritage minister and deny that he’s acting like a “shadow
MP.”
Here’s a little more about Thursday’s
late-night Senate debate on the omnibus crime bill, and the objections
opposition senators had, as well as those of Conservative Senator Pierre-Claude
Nolin, who voted against his party on the bill.
During the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu yesterday, Harper toned down his rhetoric around Iran and is now
talking once more about diplomatic solutions.
NDP MP Ryan Cleary argues that his pension
should in fact be higher, because being an MP is not just a job, but a life.
Yeah, that’s not going to haunt him.
Rob Anders lashed out after being caught
napping at a veterans affairs committee hearing, calling the veterans NDPers (they’re
card-carrying Conservatives) and supporters of Putin. Seriously. He then
apologized at 9pm on a Friday night, when the world is paying attention. Small
surprise, the veterans in question rejected it. Yes, Canada, this is the MP for whom Conservative Party headquarters keeps manipulating their own rules to
keep in place, despite numerous attempts by his riding to oust him (one of
those challengers was current Alberta Premier Alison Redford in 2004).
Aaron Wherry at Maclean’s interviews Paul Dewar here, while Dewar writes to his
fellow New Democrats, telling them to stay positive throughout the campaign amidst the new
attacks against Thomas Mulcair.
This weekend: there is another official NDP
leadership debate on Sunday, this time coming from Montreal. Expect Mulcair to
bring out his boosters in the crowd.
Why you can trust Xtra
