Robocalls - Guelph at the centre of the maelstrom

Well, it's not quite how and why I'd like to see my current hometown in the news, but if it helps expose corruption from the 2011 election, I won't complain. It would appear that the automated phone calls here in Guelph on election day 2011 were what triggered the main Elections Canada investigation that has recently become national news. As one of the people who called Elections Canada to report the phony calls on election day, and who initiated a call trace with Rogers, I'm pleased to see that my actions and those of fellow Guelph voters have actually led to concrete action. I'm also quite relieved that despite those phone calls, my local MP still comfortably won re-election to the Liberal benches.

Alas, I very much doubt, despite the optimistic predictions of diehard partisans, that this scandal will topple the government. I figure that a few scapegoats will be tossed under the bus, and that a prolonged court case will probably lead to fines and charges against lesser party officials. But with a majority government ensconced in both the House of Commons and the Senate, plus what will likely be plausible deniability of top party brass, I don't think that Harper's government is in any immediate danger of falling. The question becomes whether this electoral sleaze will still resonate with the electorate come 2015. I'm not counting on it, but it certainly is something to hope for and work to keep in the public eye as long as possible.

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