Stop Fraud Robocalls – Democracy Watch

Join Rick Mercer’s call to stop election fraud robocalls (see video below) and please join everyone across Canada by sending your letter, and also by signing the petition here or here calling for politicians across Canada (see list below) to pass effective laws to stop election fraud robocalls, and to strengthen enforcement of election laws.

You’ve heard lots of talk from politicians saying they are concerned about false election robocalls and enforcement of election laws, but it is clear politicians need to be pushed to make key changes to stop false election robocalls and strengthen enforcement.

False robocalls were received by tens of thousands of voters in more than 230 ridings during the spring 2011 federal election, and were also used to mislead voters in some recent provincial elections.

Last March, federal politicians unanimously supported Democracy Watch’s proposal to pass a law quickly to stop false election robocalls, and the NDP’s motion about the law set a deadline for this fall for the federal Conservative government to introduce the law.

To their credit, the NDP recently introduced a bill to make key changes. In contrast, the Conservatives have failed to comply with the resolution they voted for by failing to introduce a government bill to prohibit election fraud robocalls by the end of September.

The Conservatives have also failed to publicly support the NDP’s bill.

Measures to make false robocalls illegal and essentially impossible will help, but there are also enforcement problems.

Elections Canada has failed to disclose the rulings it has made on more than 3,000 complaints it has received since 1997, and has recently made some very questionable rulings. Elections Canada must be required to disclose every ruling it makes to ensure it proves to Canadians that it is enforcing the law fairly and properly (and election agencies across Canada must also be required to disclose all their rulings).

So please help win these changes by joining with everyone across Canada by sending your letter, and by signing the petition here or here, calling not only on federal politicians to introduce and pass a law to stop false election robocalls and strengthen enforcement, but also for politicians in every province and territory to pass similar laws that apply to their provincial, territorial, and municipal elections.

And please help Democracy Watch keep this campaign going until all election laws across the country are changed to ban false robocalls and to ensure fair elections – please donate now here.

Thank you very much!

See why Rick Mercer thinks robocalls must be stopped:

Brought to you by Democracy Watch’s Voter Rights Campaign

If you fill in your information and click SEND to send the letter on the right-hand side of this page, your letter is sent to the following key politicians across Canada that have the most power to make decisions about this issue:

the Prime Minister and the leaders of the federal opposition parties;
the Premiers of every province and territory, and the leaders of provincial and territorial opposition parties;
key federal Cabinet ministers (Democratic Reform Minister and Treasury Board Minister) and related opposition party critics;
members of key federal House of Commons committees (Access, Privacy and Ethics Committee, Procedure and House Affairs Committee, and Government Operations Committee);
members of key federal Senate committees (Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, and Rules, Procedures and Rights of Parliament Committee).

Send your letter to key politicians across Canada calling for changes to stop election fraud robocalls, and to strengthen enforcement
(See list of politicians below)

Enter your details:

Message Subject (Please change as you like)

Your Message (Please change as you like)

Hello,

Last March, federal politicians unanimously passed a motion setting a deadline for this September for the federal Conservative government to introduce a law to restrict false robocalls.

This law, which is needed at the federal level, and also in every province, territory and municipality across Canada, must require every person or company of any kind that provides any kind of calling or messaging service leading up to or during any Canadian election or by-election campaign to confirm the identity of anyone or any organization booking or sending a robocall or mass call or message before allowing any call or message to be delivered, and must require the person or organization paying for the call or message to pay in a way that identifies them clearly, and must require the call or message to identify the person or organization making and paying for the call or message.

The penalty for false election robocalls and messages must be jail terms and fines, and also that the election candidate or candidates associated with the person or organization who books or pays for the call will not be allowed to be a member of the legislature, or a Cabinet appointee, for 7 years (this is the current penalty for some types of election fraud in the federal Elections Act, and this strong penalty is needed to ensure false robocalls and messages are not used to try to win elections or by-elections). As well, anyone involved in the fraud must lose any severance payment, and have a partial clawback of any pension payments.

If these measures are not in the law, anyone will continue to be able to try to win an election by booking false robocalls under a false name.

Measures to make anonymous false robocalls illegal and essentially impossible will help, but there are also enforcement problems.

Elections Canada has failed to disclose the rulings it has made on more than 3,000 complaints it has received since 1997, and has recently made some very questionable rulings. Elections Canada must be required to disclose every ruling it has made in the past 15 years, and every ruling it makes in the future, to ensure it proves to Canadians that it enforces the law fairly and properly (and election agencies across Canada must also be required to disclose all their rulings).

Elections Canada also needs more investigative powers, especially the power to obtain court orders to require witnesses to meet with investigators so investigations are not delayed by uncooperative witnesses. Elections Canada should also be given the power, and required, to do random, regular audits of candidates, riding associations, and political parties to ensure compliance with all measures in the Canada Elections Act, and the power to obtain any information needed to complete these audits.

Please let me know what you will do to ensure that these changes are made as soon as possible. I will be deciding which political party to vote for in the next election based on the responses I receive from representatives in each party. I look forward to hearing from you.

Hello,
False robocalls were received by tens of thousands of voters in more than 230 ridings during the spring 2011 federal election, and were also used to mislead voters in some recent provincial elections.
Last March, federal politicians unanimously passed a motion setting a deadline for this September for the federal Conservative government to introduce a law to restrict false robocalls.
This law, which is needed at the federal level, and also in every province, territory and municipality across Canada, must require every person or company of any kind that provides any kind of calling or messaging service leading up to or during any Canadian election or by-election campaign to confirm the identity of anyone or any organization booking or sending a robocall or mass call or message before allowing any call or message to be delivered, and must require the person or organization paying for the call or message to pay in a way that identifies them clearly, and must require the call or message to identify the person or organization making and paying for the call or message.
The penalty for false election robocalls and messages must be jail terms and fines, and also that the election candidate or candidates associated with the person or organization who books or pays for the call will not be allowed to be a member of the legislature, or a Cabinet appointee, for 7 years (this is the current penalty for some types of election fraud in the federal Elections Act, and this strong penalty is needed to ensure false robocalls and messages are not used to try to win elections or by-elections). As well, anyone involved in the fraud must lose any severance payment, and have a partial clawback of any pension payments.
If these measures are not in the law, anyone will continue to be able to try to win an election by booking false robocalls under a false name.
Measures to make anonymous false robocalls illegal and essentially impossible will help, but there are also enforcement problems.
Elections Canada has failed to disclose the rulings it has made on more than 3,000 complaints it has received since 1997, and has recently made some very questionable rulings. Elections Canada must be required to disclose every ruling it has made in the past 15 years, and every ruling it makes in the future, to ensure it proves to Canadians that it enforces the law fairly and properly (and election agencies across Canada must also be required to disclose all their rulings).
Elections Canada also needs more investigative powers, especially the power to obtain court orders to require witnesses to meet with investigators so investigations are not delayed by uncooperative witnesses. Elections Canada should also be given the power, and required, to do random, regular audits of candidates, riding associations, and political parties to ensure compliance with all measures in the Canada Elections Act, and the power to obtain any information needed to complete these audits.
Please let me know what you will do to ensure that these changes are made as soon as possible. I will be deciding which political party to vote for in the next election based on the responses I receive from representatives in each party. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for sending your letter, and please help keep this campaign going until these key democracy reforms are won. To donate now, please click here.

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