The Council of Canadians Guelph chapter, Fair Vote Guelph, Guelph Solar and the St. James Anglican Church social justice committee hosted a public forum yesterday. More than 100 people were there to hear the speakers and engage in a question-and-answer session.
The Guelph Mercury reports, “The keynote speaker was social activist and English literature professor emeritus Michael Keefer, who’s studied electoral fraud in its myriad forms for more than a decade. …Keefer said it’s currently unknown how widespread the robocalls were in the 2011 election, but there is some indication they could have been as high as 1.1 million, with voter complaints made in 261 ridings. …What’s clear, he said, is voters in Guelph were let down when Elections Canada concluded last year there was no evidence of an orchestrated fraud or intent to deceive voters beyond Guelph.”
In addition, “Fair Vote Guelph member Susan Watson said [she is] calling for a full judicial inquiry, unconvinced former Guelph Tory communications director Michael Sona acted alone. …[And] fellow panellist Steve Dyck, a Fair Vote proponent and former local Green party candidate, urged Canadians to support proportional representation to boost future election fairness, noting robocalls are only a part of the problem.”
In the media release announcing this public forum, organizer John Dennis explained, “There are a lot of voters in Guelph who would like to see the robo-calls issue examined thoroughly. This town hall will provide an opportunity to hear community members share their concerns and to learn about an alternate electoral system that would discourage robo-calls.”
The Council of Canadians has called on the Commissioner of Canada Elections to re-open the investigation into the widespread election fraud that took place in 2011. We have also spoken in support for electoral reform and proportional representation.
For Council of Canadians commentary on electoral fraud, please click here.
