Greens renew call for national Commission of Inquiry into criminal activity in 2011 election

OTTAWA – Today the Green Party of Canada renewed its call for an independent, national Commission of Inquiry into the widespread criminal activity known to have taken place during the last federal election.

The report from the Commissioner of Elections Canada released today states that since there is not enough evidence to proceed with an investigation into the 2011 robocalls, the Commissioner will not refer the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

“This report demonstrates that Elections Canada lacks the necessary powers and resources to get to the bottom of the illegal activities of the 2011 election campaign” said Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada and Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands. 

"We know there was an industrial-scale attempt to mislead voters, amounting to criminal acts in the 2011 election. We must not allow it to happen again," said May. "With C-23 making it harder to investigate such events and doing nothing to prevent them, we need an independent inquiry."

In May 2011, the Green Party Leader wrote to the Chief Electoral Officer complaining of misleading phone calls in her own riding and across the country noting that they were a clear violation of Section 281(g) of the Canada Elections Act, which states that "No person shall, inside or outside Canada, wilfully prevent or endeavour to prevent an elector from voting at an election.” Elections Canada officials never contacted May or the Green Party for further details on these complaints.  

When new details of the case emerged in February 2012, May called for an Emergency House of Commons Debate on the systemic voter suppression campaign that had taken place. At that time, May urged Prime Minister Harper to call an inquiry into the matter.  

May has repeatedly spoken in the House and presented numerous petitions calling for an independent, national inquiry into the crimes and irregularities of the 2011 federal election.

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Contact: 

Nicholas Gall
Communications Coordinator
Green Party of Canada
(613) 614 4916
nicholas.gall@greenparty.ca