OTTAWA – Bob Rae is urging Canada’s chief electoral watchdog to wade into the dispute over a Conservative misinformation campaign against Liberal MP Irwin Cotler.
The interim Liberal leader has written Marc Mayrand, the chief electoral officer, noting that the Canada Elections Act prohibits anyone from knowingly making false statements about the withdrawal of a candidate during an election.
Rae acknowledges that the campaign against Cotler did not take place during an election period but says the situation is “analogous” and the perpetrators should be prosecuted.
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The Conservatives have admitted they were behind a poll taken in Cotler’s Montreal riding of Mount Royal, in which constituents have said they were led to believe Cotler had quit or was about to resign and that a byelection was imminent.
The Speaker of the House of Commons ruled earlier this week that the ploy was “reprehensible” but that he had no authority to find that Cotler’s parliamentary privileges had been violated.
If Mayrand concludes there’s nothing he can do either, Rae asks that he at least say whether he believes the elections act should be amended to make it clear that spreading misinformation about a candidate is illegal – at any time, not just during election campaigns.
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