GUELPH POLITICAST #39 - Kornelis Klevering and Robocalls

In so much as people wanted someone found and prosecuted for committing the robocall fraud perpetuated against Guelph and other ridings on May 2, 2011, there was also the matter of principle. How could we be sure that the person elected was the right person elected if so many people got a call that told them to go some place where they couldn't vote? Did they all make it to their actual polling stating? How many decided to not to vote at all? It was a Charter issue. Everyone that can vote, should vote, and when the robocall story broke in 2012, that's the angle that Kornelis Klevering decided to pursue.

Appeals in the Sona Case Denied, the Man Himself is Now in Jail

In the Ontario Court of Appeal last Wednesday, Michael Sona arrived with one of three roads in front of him, more jail, less jail or the same amount of jail he was sentence to back in November. Ultimately, the three judge panel chose door number three, but does that mean the case is over, and what about the unanswered questions that linger still?

Sona and Crown Appeal Sentence Today in Toronto

We may have put a whole other election between us and it, but the robocall scandal returns to the foreground today when the parties arrive at Osgood Hall to appeal the sentence of Michael Sona. The Tory staffer has tried and convicted of  "preventing or endeavouring to prevent an elector from voting" back in 2014, but according to his appeal, Sona's been either punished too harshly, or, according to Crown, his nine month prison sentence is too light.

Robocalls: Klevering Loses Appeal, 2011 Results Stand

With just a few months to go before the 2015 Federal Election, the final battle of the last election finally ended with an appeals court affirming that the Guelph results of 2011 will not be overturned. Frank Valeriote will be allowed to serve out his term as Guelph MP for giving it up to his successor in October.

Robocalls Doc Director Talks About the Struggles and Rewards of his Endeavour

"You can't help but live in Ottawa and get involved in politics," says filmmaker Peter Smoczynski. Ottawa is a company town, after all, and that company is the Federal government, so when that industry is in the news for alleged corruption and possible criminal investigation, everyone in town is affected, even the guy with the camera.

Smoczynski decided to use his cameras to make a documentary called Election Day in Canada: The Rise of Voter Suppression, a nation-wide effort to capture not just what happened on May 2, 2011, but to look at how we got there, and where we might be going as we look to the Federal Election this coming October. There have been books, chapters in books, newspaper articles and blog posts representing millions of words written about the robocall scandal, but Smoczynski's is the first documentary.Election Day will be screened twice this week in Guelph and once in Waterloo as part of a national tour, but the course from script to screen was not a smooth one for Smoczynski.

Robocall Townhall Shows Community Still Worried

Are you worried about another robocall scandal? Judging from the turnout at a townhall at St. James Anglican Church here in Guelph today, a lot of us are. Between 80 and 100 people showed up for the event organized by Fair Vote Guelph and the St. James' Environment and Social Justice Committee, and on the eve of the start of the last parliamentary session before the 2015 election, it sure sounded like there was still a lot to be concerned about even after the conviction of Michael Sona last summer. A combination of politicians, experts and ordinary citizens came out to remember how we got here, and what we should be on the look out next.

Editorial - Final Thoughts About Sona Trial

A week ago today, Michael Sona was sentenced to nine months in prison and one year of probation. From all accounts it was an emotional affair for Sona's family as he was lead away in cuffs, remanded to begin his jail sentence, which could be as short as three months ultimately. In a sense, Sona was sentenced in this case long before last Thursday. Once a valued political operative in the party that so thoroughly stuffed hum under the bus to be run over again and again, he's lost friends, respect, and a career that could have taken him all the way to party leadership or his own elected position in Parliament. Now he's a machinist's apprentice going to prison for a crime that was much bigger than himself. Ultimately, Sona's biggest crimes were foolishness and naivety.

Marty Says Mea Culpa

Yesterday's conviction of Michael Sona managed to do the impossible, prompt a response from Marty Burke. Burke was the Conservative candidate for Guelph in the 2011 Federal Election, and it was under his auspices that Sona, in party with others, allegedly launched the robocall scheme to misdirect nearly 7,000 to a fake polling station. Burke fought tooth and nail to keep himself and his name out of the media during the entirety of the investigation, arrest and trial of Sona and the robocall crimes, but now that it's all over (for now?) Burke is talking, and apologizing.

Sona Found Guilty But May Not Have Acted Alone

Crown Prosecutor Croft Michaelson talks to media after the verdict

Wrapping up an odyssey that's been in play for over three years, Michael Sona was found guilty in a Guelph courtroom this morning of "willfully preventing or endeavouring to prevent an elector from voting." After a summation of the trial and the facts offered into evidence, Judge Gary Hearn rendered his judgment to a packed gallery of media and observers at the provincial courthouse on Wyndham Street. Hearn said that upon consideration of the "balance of evidence" he was satisfied that Sona had aided and abetted the May 2, 2011 robocall scheme to misdirect nearly 7,000 Guelph voters to different polling stations, and "was a party to it."

The Sona Trial ...In Conclusion

The trial of Michael Sona finally came to a close Monday as the lawyers made their summations before Judge Gary Hearn. Both Crown prosecutor Croft Michaelson and attorney for Michael Sona Norm Boxall made their final pitch for Sona's guilty and innocence respectively, and while for many people the question of guilt or innocence is one they already know the answer to, Judge Hearn will undoubtedly have a tougher time of it given the strength of both men's arguments. For his part, Boxall stayed the course and threw the robocall ball to Andrew Prescott and Ken Morgan. Michaelson, meanwhile, said that the evidence establishes Sona's guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Editorial - 12 Angry Mentions from the Sona Trial

 

It was a long time coming, and to say that it was something of a disappointment is an understatement. Although many people wanted the trial of the century, what's clear is just how tenuous the case against Sona is, and maybe how badly this investigation's been bungled if this is the only case that can make it trial. In the details though, the case being tried in a Guelph court and scheduled to wrap up Monday with closing arguments has been fascinating. There's been personal betrayals, tall tales, stunning silences, and a startling lack of curiosity. In some ways, it's not a matter of how can anyone have gotten away with this, it's how could they not get away with it. In the case of the robocall trial there's no real certainty, even of the guilt of the accused. Here are a dozen of my observations from the trial.

Sona Trial Day #2 - Into the RackNine Matrix

Day two of the robocall trial dispatched two witnesses quickly before getting to the first star witness of the trial, RackNine CEO Mark Meier. If day one set up the dynamics of the Burke campaign and the personalities involved, then day two was about the technobabble of the autodial technology: who had access, who had the means, and who had the opportunity. The defense thinks that person is Andrew Prescott, and I'm not entirely convinced that the Crown doesn't think it either.

Sona Trial Begins With Testimony from Burke Campaign Team

For local politicos, this was the biggest thing to hit the Guelph scene since we had back-to-back federal elections in 2008. I know, we lead a dull life, but for everyone who have wanted to see some kind of justice come out of the 2011 attempt to defraud voters of their right to vote, all hope now rests on Courtroom #2 at the Ontario Court of Justice in Guelph. Michael Sona, the communications director for the Marty Burke campaign, arrived for the start of his trial in fine spirits. He said he felt "great" and was looking forward to seeing how it all played out. What played out Monday was a recital of uncertainty as the first three witnesses called to testify teetered between throwing Sona under the bus (again) and exonerating him by omission.

Guelph Politicast #2.5 - Michael Keefer, U of G Prof

Although the scandals in Ottawa continue to compound, it's worth noting that the scandal that literally kicked off the Federal government's first majority term in office is still very unresolved. The 2011 robocall controversy does still occasionally swim in and out of the media consciousness, but despite a singular arrest, the case is far from closed, and a great many questions remain unanswered. One of those truth seekers though is Michael Keefer, an emeritus professor at the University of Guelph. He's doing a talk in Guelph on March 13 outlining his case and what he's uncovered so far.

Prescott Knows Pierre?

Just when everyone seemed content with the idea that Michael Sona had been run over by the bus enough times, we get breaking news yesterday that the so-called Christian Conservative Independent Andrew Prescott has reached an immunity deal for his alleged involvement in the Pierre Poutine/robocall scandal. According to CBC, Prescott has received notice that "the Crown has no intention" of charging him in connection with misleading phone calls in Guelph on the last Federal Election Day that directed voters to illegitimate polling stations. But if Prescott is getting protection from the law, does that mean he's turning in evidence on someone else? And of course we mean someone bigger than Sona.

Klevering SCOC Appeal Denied

Since things seem relatively quiet on the election front (for the moment), we can pause to reflect on a story or two that we might have missed over the holidays. For instance, the Supreme Court of Canada decided that they didn't want to hear from Kornelis Klevering on the matter of 2011 Federal Election results in Guelph. The Marijuana Party candidate wanted the election results overturned because of the fraudulent robocalls made to Guelph voters on election day, but SCOC seems satisfied in the constitutionality of the 2011 results.

Robocalls - The "We Just Kidding" Excuse

The legal action around the 2011 robocall scandal is another reminder that real-life legal proceedings are nothing like Law & Order; one hour and you're done! The bad guys are in jail, and it's on to the next case. The comparatively glacial pace of real-life legal matters as compared to their fictional TV counterparts in understandable - We want justice, and we want it now! - but the wheels of jurisprudence grind slowly and deliberately. Every once and a while though, news breaks and we get somewhat closer to a resolution.

In the news this week were the details of a partially lifted publication ban on the case thus far against Michael Sona, director of communications for the Guelph campaign of Marty Burke during the 2011 election. Sona is charged with wilfully preventing or endeavouring to prevent a voter from casting a ballot, and the court placed a publication ban on the case this past August. After petitioning by various media sources, including PostMedia and the CBC, the ban was partially lifted in September, but the full ban coming off this past Wednesday. As for Sona himself, court proceedings have been held over till June at which point it will be decided whether or not Sona will be taken to trial, but the new papers suggest that he maybe somewhat less than the innocent pawn he's been selling himself as since he was thrown under the bus by the party he so loyally served last year.

Sona What?

National Post Editorial Cartoon

 Obviously, it was big news earlier this week when it was announced that Michael Sona would be charged in relation to the robocall scandal that has many Canadians concerned about the safety and validity of their democracy. The single solitary charge under the Elections Act, that Sona alleged to “wilfully prevent or endeavour to prevent an elector from voting at an election,” will be heard in court early next month, but astute politicos are wondering what the long term implications may be.

Sona Goes Under the Bus Again?

He said he didn't do it, but it seems that Elections Canada begs to differ in the case of Michael Sona and the great robocall election scandal of 2011. 

Robocall: Notes From a Year Later

A couple of weeks ago I was on Twitter and I read a post by Andrew Prescott, AKA: the blogger Christian Conservative. He addressed the tweet to Donald Trump and asked The Donald to come to Ontario where he can continue the good work fighting wind mills as he did in Scotland. Forget that Trump is basically fighting an entire Scottish town on this so that he can open some ghastly golf course he'll undoubtedly drive into bankruptcy, but as I said a few weeks ago on "Beyond the Ballot Box," if Trump comes to Ontario to protest wind mills, I'll support him so long as he campaigns to see Stephen Harper's birth certificate while he's here.

Joking aside though, I find these kinds of posts from Prescott as irksome as I find them tiresome. Not just because he's one of the few people in the free world that continues to beatify Trump - whose own kids after his election day meltdown last November told him to pucker up - but because in midst of Prescott's identification of so call liars and "Fiberals" he seems to forget that he, himself, has a lot to answer for.