With regards to the allegations of illegal “robocalls” during last federal election, these egregious actions deeply worry me, and I first raised them with Elections Canada last May 19th.
Since this story broke nationally on Thursday, I have received over 11,000 emails on this issue. This attack upon our cherished democratic institutions has struck a nerve with many Canadians and demands an immediate response. To that effect, I wrote to the Speaker of the House of Commons earlier today, requesting an emergency debate on this matter. Unfortunately, he ruled that this issue does not meet the criteria required for such a debate.
In light of his decision, I will continue to explore various avenues to put a stop to this erosion of our democratic institutions, including legislative solutions. We need to ensure that there is a meaningful deterrent to these actions, and I intend to have more to say about this in the coming days.