More Conservative connections in robocall scandal

Matt Meier is president and CEO of Racknine Inc., of Edmonton.

The Ottawa Citizen:

Ottawa — The fraudulent robocall that misdirected voters in Guelph came from a Virgin Mobile disposable cellphone registered to one Pierre Poutine, on Separatist Street, in Joliette, Que, court documents obtained by Postmedia News, the Ottawa Citizen and the Edmonton Journal show.

The obviously fabricated name appears to have been a ruse to evade detection in the event the number was ever investigated.

An Information to Obtain a Production Order was filed at the Edmonton courthouse in November to allow Elections Canada investigator Al Mathews to have access to records belonging to RackNine, the Conservative voice broadcasting firm that was used by whoever made the fraudulent calls into Guelph, Ont., causing chaos at a polling station.

The “Pierre Poutine” phone was activated April 30, two days before the election, and called only two numbers other than its own voice mail. Both corresponded to RackNine.

There is a restaurant in Guelph named Pierre’s Poutine.

The documents show that several other numbers associated with Conservative candidate Marty Burke’s campaign called RackNine during the campaign. The contact person was given as Andrew Prescott, Burke’s deputy campaign manager.

Prescott, who swears he had no role in the fraudulent calls, reportedly called RackNine on election day to send out a mass call warning Conservative supporters to disregard bogus calls.

The records show that 31 calls to RackNine were made from phones associated with the campaign between March 26 and May 5.

Matthews used phone records to trace all phone numbers from Eastern Canada to RackNine during the election period. He found 40 calls from area code 613 — the Ottawa area — which he found traced back to voice recordings for Rebecca Rogers and Chris Ruge or Ruger of the Conservative Party.

Matthews also found three calls to RackNine from a number for the constituency office of Conservative MP and associate defence minister Julian Fantino, 27 calls from Peace River MP Chris Warkentin. There were also nine calls two days before the election from the Conservative Party association in Okanagan-Coquihalla, the British Columbia riding of Conservative MP Dan Albas.

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