The growing “robocall” scandal that first emerged in Guelph, Ont., has reached the Vancouver Island North riding.Automated phone calls reportedly directed voters away from proper polling stations during the federal election last May.The Vancouver Island North NDP candidate in the May 2011 election said Wednesday several people complained to her recently about receiving automated phone calls directing them away from legitimate polling stations.“I thought it was a non-story (in this riding),” said Ronna-Rae Leonard, who finished a close second to incumbent Conservative MP John Duncan.Then the city councillor in Courtenay started to hear from concerned voters who said they had been misled by automated calls.Cumberland resident Yvonne Kafka said an automated call told her not to vote at the usual polling station in the village, although she confirmed the location and voted.“If they did it to me, they must have done it to other people,” said Kafka, who has not heard back from Elections Canada about her complaint.Leonard said a Merville resident told her she was misdirected to the former Tsolum School to vote after she had voted for years at the Merville Hall. The woman, who declined Thursday to be interviewed or identified, told Leonard she was interviewed by Elections Canada.One woman in Comox told Leonard a call “was directing her to the Comox Mall to vote, where there was no poll.” Leonard said the woman, who had not given Leonard permission to identify her, did manage to vote.Leonard said she suspects people have not come forward before now because they suspected misleading calls were just a hoax, and they didn’t see the gravity of attempting to defraud voters.Liberal candidate Mike Holland, who finished a distant third in Vancouver Island North, said Thursday he hasn't heard of any robocall complaints in the riding."There's nothing wrong with robocalls saying, 'You should vote for me instead of that other person,' " Holland said, adding that misleading people is another matter.He's saddened by a recent trend in election campaigns."Used to be you just wanted to beat somebody in an election. Now you want to destroy them."Duncan did not return a phone call by deadline.“I’m disappointed that it’s (scandal) reached the farthest reaches of Canada,” Leonard commented. “Is it a wakeup call to Canadians to demand more integrity in our process? I hope it’s a rallying call for people to demand more accountability.”Elections Canada has received about 31,000 “contacts” concerning the issue, of which about 700 are specific complaints, spokesperson Diane Benson confirmed Thursday from Ottawa.Almost 50,000 people have signed an online petition for a public inquiry and three-quarters of respondents to a recent national poll said there should be an independent commission of inquiry.The Liberals and New Democrats accuse the Conservatives of being behind fraudulent robocalls, which Prime Minister Stephen Harper has denied. Some Conservatives have said rogue elements within the party could have been responsible, and the Tories have claimed some of their candidates were also victimized by misleading calls to potential voters.Edmonton firm RackNine has been identified as the company that was used to make misdirecting robocalls in Guelph on election day. A suspect known as Pierre Poutine is alleged to have been responsible for ordering the fake calls.The federal Liberals have given Elections Canada samples of their robocall messages to voters during the 2011 election campaign. Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae has called on the Conservatives to be equally transparent.editor@comoxvalleyrecord.com
