OTTAWA – An NDP MP says he’s sorry for falsely accusing an Edmonton company of being behind the robocall affair.
Pat Martin says he now knows RackNine and its owner, Matt Meier, had nothing to do with the misleading automated phone calls in last May’s federal election.
“RackNine was merely an innocent intermediary not a participant in electoral fraud,” Martin said Monday.
“I apologize for any damage my statements may have caused to Mr. Meier personally or to RackNine, and I have been specifically authorized by the NDP to apologize on behalf of the NDP for any similar damage the publications on the NDP website may have caused.”
RackNine filed a $5-million defamation lawsuit against Martin and the NDP last month over the MP’s remarks and comments published on the party’s website.
“Martin’s words were defamatory, and, in the very least, carried the innuendo that Meier and/or RackNine had committed criminal activity, fraudulent activity, participated in a conspiracy, intimidation, sabotage and/or deceit,” the statement of claim says.
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The lawsuit stems from comments Martin made during a February news conference, which he repeated in the days that followed.
“I now know that the statements I made insinuating Mr. Meier’s and RackNine’s participation in an electoral fraud conspiracy were wholly and unequivocally false,” Martin said.
“In my rush to express my personal outrage and the outrage of the NDP caucus, I jumped to conclusions I now know are unsupported by fact.”
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Martin says to his knowledge, neither Meier nor RackNine have ever been investigated for electoral fraud. He acknowledged that RackNine provides a “legitimate” service, similar to services used by many political parties.
Martin did not take questions after he finished reading his apology.
Canadians from every part of the country have complained to the elections watchdog about misleading telephone calls during last May’s federal election.
Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand told a parliamentary committee his office has received hundreds of complaints from Canadians who say they received so-called robocalls directing them to non-existent or wrong polling stations during the election.
Trying to persuade someone not to vote, or preventing them from voting, is prohibited under the Elections Act.
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