During Elections Canada commissioner Marc Mayrand’s appearance before a Commons committee today, Conservative MP Tom Lukiwski expressed concern about the slow pace of the investigation into allegations of voter suppression and electoral fraud tied to the 2011 election.
“Until such time as the investigation is completed, it’s very difficult for us to prove we had nothing to do with that,” Lukiwski told Mayrand. “Justice delayed, justice denied.”
But Mayrand countered Lukiwski’s complaint by stating that one of the principle problems his office was having in investigating the robocalls scandal was the obstructionist attitude of the federal Conservatives — to the point of party workers even refusing to speak with Elections Canada investigators.
That was an observation that Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley made last week as well in his ruling in a case brought by eight voters against the Conservative Party. While Mosley declined to overturn the election results in six ridings, he did criticize the party in his judgment for its delaying tactics, and stated his finding that a password-protected Conservative database was likely used by unknown persons to commit widespread fraud.
Elections Canada’s investigation into the robocalls scandal is still ongoing. And during his committee appearance Mayrand renewed his plea for his office to have greater powers to compel testimony from witnesses so that it could properly protect the interests of Canadian voters.
