Unanimous Support for RCMP, Elections Canada Investigation

Yesterday, Parliament unanimously passed a motion for all Members of Parliament to do everything possible to aid in ongoing investigations into alleged vote suppression in the last general election.

The motion, proposed by the NDP, requested that Members provide the RCMP and Elections Canada with any information they may have regarding a supposed phone campaign that was apparently aimed at discouraging certain groups from voting.

The allegations came to light last week, and to date have involved implications of inappropriate automated “robocalls” as well as supposed misleading calls made by campaign staffers.

The motion passed by Parliament also requests that the individual MPs’ respective political parties assist in the investigation by providing authorities with any information they may have.

The motion came on the heels of an impassioned Question Period, in which the Opposition bombarded the Government with a series of questions pertaining to the allegations.

“Are they going to take responsibility and hold a public inquiry, so Canadians can find out who’s guilty and who should be going to jail,” demanded MP Charlie Angus (NDP - Timmins-James Bay), at one point in the debate.

“That’s interesting, as recently as Friday, the leader of the NDP was calling on all members to provide all evidence and information to Elections Canada — that’s what we’re saying today,” responded MP Dean Del Mastro, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister (CPC – Peterborough).

“If this member has any evidence to back up any of the allegations that he’s made, we call on him to turn it over to Elections Canada, and for Elections Canada to look into that matter without delay,” he continued, echoing the Government’s position on the matter.

The scope and timing of any possible Elections Canada or RCMP investigations into the allegations is unclear at this time.