The Commissioner of Elections Canada is staying silent on whether the Guelph robocalls investigation will be re-opened, following a judge’s verdict that found Michael Sona likely didn’t act alone.
“We’re not commenting on anything,” a spokeswoman for Commissioner Yves Cote said.
Instead, the spokeswoman referred a reporter to Cote’s public statements about the difficulties in compelling witness cooperation.
“It regularly happens, in the course of our investigations, that we approach individuals who we know will have information relevant to a file we are working on, only to be told that they do not wish to talk to us – they refuse to say anything,” Cote wrote in the forward to his 2012-13 annual report.
On Thursday, Justice Gary Hearn found Sona, 25, guilty of playing an “active” role in the plan to use automated calls to send Liberal voters to the wrong polling stations in the 2011 election.
While Hearn acknowledged it may not have been Sona who “pulled the trigger” by sending the calls on election day, he believed the young campaign staffer bought the cellphone registered to a Pierre Poutine and set up an account with automated calling firm RackNine.
READ MORE: Who is Pierre Poutine?
“Although the evidence may not be sufficient to establish Mr. Sona was the one that effectively ‘pulled the trigger,’ or had the continuing contact by computer with RackNine and the actual sending out of the messages on May 2, 2011, he was, I find, fully aware of that being done and played a very active role in putting that process into motion,” Hearn wrote.
One person mentioned in the judge’s ruling was Andrew Prescott – the deputy campaign manager and IT professional who received immunity to testify against Sona.
Hearn threw out the majority of Prescott’s evidence, calling it “self-serving.”
“There certainly is some basis for the court being concerned Mr. Prescott was involved more so than he indicated,” Hearn wrote.
Prescott declined to comment Thursday. Throughout the trial, court heard that Prescott withheld information from investigators, even after he struck his immunity deal in December 2013.
WATCH: Former Conservative party staffer Michael Sona has been found guilty
During the trial, court also heard about campaign manager Ken Morgan, whom Prescott said told him to stop a round of robocalls from going out on election day – and who has never cooperated with Elections Canada.
Ottawa defence lawyer Michael Spratt said Prescott’s testimony would not be admissible in a future proceeding as is, but could be used to tip off investigators if another probe is launched.
“Police can use that statement to try to unearth other evidence. It might open up other avenues of investigation,” Spratt said.
He also noted immunity doesn’t cover witnesses who lie or commit perjury, but that could only be proven if another court proceeding commences.
Postmedia also reported last year that Jenni Byrne, one of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s top advisors, told Prescott to delay an Elections Canada interview until she obtained legal advice.
INTERACTIVE: Timeline of key dates in the robocalls controversy
The Conservative party has consistently said it ran a clean and ethical campaign and had nothing to do with what happened in Guelph.
Following the verdict, NDP democratic reform critic Craig Scott called on Harper and Byrne to stop blaming Sona and “tell Canadians what happened.”
“(Sona) wasn’t a lone wolf. At minimum, he was part of a den. And whether or not it goes further than that, we don’t know,” Scott told Global News.
Scott said Cote should re-open the investigation, and also reiterated his call for a public inquiry into whether voter suppression existed across the country.
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WATCH: Prosecutor in Michael Sona case comments on guilty verdict
Crown prosecutor Croft Michaelson said Thursday the Public Prosecution Service of Canada doesn’t initiate investigations, but receives referrals from the commissioner.
“If there’s a referral that’s made, to the director of public prosecutions, the assessment is made on a review of the evidence that’s available and admissible against an individual at that time,” he said.
When asked for his reaction to the judge’s dismantling of Prescott’s testimony, Michaelson said: “You don’t pick your witnesses.”
Sona’s sentencing takes place on October 17. He is facing up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
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