146-613: The 2011 Canadian federal election voter suppression scandal (also known as the Robocall scandal , Robogate , or RoboCon ) is a political scandal stemming from events during the 2011 Canadian federal election . It involved robocalls and real-person calls that originated in the Conservative Party of Canada 's campaign office in Guelph, Ontario. The calls were designed to result in voter suppression . Elections Canada and
292-452: A political scandal is an action or event regarded as morally or legally wrong and causing general public outrage. Politicians , government officials, party officials and lobbyists can be accused of various illegal, corrupt , unethical or sexual practices. Politicians and officials who are embroiled in scandals are more likely to retire or get lower vote shares. Scandal sells, and broadsides, pamphlets, newspapers, magazines and
438-671: A "National Day Against Election Fraud". On April 24, 2014, Commissioner of Canada Elections Yves Cote issued a press release that stated, "the Commissioner has concluded that, following a thorough investigation by his Office, the evidence is not sufficient to provide reasonable grounds to believe that an offence was committed. Therefore, the Commissioner will not refer the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions". However in August, 2014, former junior Conservative staffer Michael Sona
584-558: A "Pierre Poutine " of " Separatist Street" in Joliette , Quebec . In addition, "Pierre Poutine" also used the alias "Pierre Jones" of pierres1630 at gmail.com, living at the fictional address of 54 Lajoie Nord in Joliette, Quebec. The day before election day, "Pierre Poutine" sent out a series of messages using 2call.ca, an automated call company subsidiary of Edmonton-based Internet service provider RackNine , which directed voters to
730-534: A "publicity stunt". The lawyer served motions to have the case thrown out of court before the supporting evidence had been filed. Fred DeLorey, a Conservative Party spokesman, added about the case, "This is a transparent attempt to overturn certified election results simply because this activist group doesn't like them". Desgagne claimed that she was given scripts while working at the Responsive Marketing Group call centre. These scripts identified
876-534: A Facebook page were posted with racially abusive content and comments depicting Aboriginal people as inferior. While the contents on the page were removed by the originators after an investigation conducted by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, Facebook did not delete the page and has allowed it to remain under the classification of controversial humor. However, a post by an African American woman addressing her discomfort with being
1022-453: A Guelph-area radio station at 10:53 am and put out an advisory to ignore the calls. Liberal MP Frank Valeriote received a call at his home notifying him that Liberal Party of Canada supporters were being targeted. It quickly emerged that there was an extensive campaign to discourage Liberal supporters. In under an hour, 100 voters arrived at the phony voting location. A signed affidavit indicates that 150 to 200 voters in Guelph showed up at
1168-418: A broader process of fragmentation of the internet. Zero-rating , the practice of internet providers allowing users free connectivity to access specific content or applications for free, has offered some opportunities for individuals to surmount economic hurdles, but has also been accused by its critics as creating a ‘two-tiered’ internet. To address the issues with zero-rating, an alternative model has emerged in
1314-616: A call centre with live operators located in Thunder Bay and used only by the Conservative Party, stated earlier in the 2011 campaign that they had made calls to identify recipients as either Conservative supporters or Liberal/NDP supporters. Depending on their stated allegiance, the recipients later received different scripted messages, such as get-out-the-vote calls targeted at identified Conservative supporters. Some call centre workers became concerned that what they were doing
1460-582: A call from someone claiming to be from the Conservative Party and asking McCoy for his support in the upcoming election. McCoy reportedly declined to pledge his support for the Conservatives. Elections Canada does not contact voters by telephone, nor does it have telephone numbers for voters. An EKOS poll confirmed that non-Conservative voters were targeted by robocalls over Conservative voters, and voters in contested ridings were targeted over those in less contested ridings. The president of EKOS described
1606-427: A campaign was launched by Katie Price to ensure that Britain's MP's held those who are guilty of perpetuating online abuse towards those with disabilities accountable. Online abuse towards individuals with disabilities is a factor that can discourage people from engaging online which could prevent people from learning information that could improve their lives. Many individuals living with disabilities face online abuse in
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#17327983236071752-1088: A classification designed to filter out "potentially inappropriate content". The internet provides information that can create a safe space for marginalized groups such as the LGBTQIA community to connect with others and engage in honest dialogues and conversations that are affecting their communities. It can also be viewed as an agent of change for the LGBTQIA community and provide a means of engaging in social justice. It can allow for LGBTQIA individuals who may be living in rural areas or in areas where they are isolated to gain access to information that are not within their rural system as well as gaining information from other LGBT individuals. This includes information such as healthcare, partners, and news. Gay Health provides online medical and health information and Gay and Lesbians Alliance Against Defamation contains online publications and news that focus on human rights campaigns and issues focused on LGBTQIA issues. The Internet also allows LGBTQIA individuals to maintain anonymity. Lack of access to
1898-739: A collaboration of ideas, concerns, and helps LGBTQIA individuals move forward. This can be fostered through human service professionals who can utilize the internet with evidence and evaluation to provide information to LGBTQIA individuals who are dealing with the circumstances of coming out and the possible repercussions that could follow as a result. With the evolution of the digital age , application of freedom of speech and its corollaries (freedom of information, access to information) becomes more controversial as new means of communication and restrictions arise including government control or commercial methods putting personal information to danger. Freedom of information (or information freedom) also refers to
2044-426: A disability in comparison to those who are not living with a disability. According to The Pew Internet 54% of households with a person who has a disability have home internet access compared to 81% of households that have home internet access and do not have a person who has a disability. The type of disability an individual has can prevent one from interacting with computer screens and smartphone screens, such as having
2190-503: A fake name and address, and used a different fake name and address (Pierre Poutine of Separatist Street, Joliette, Quebec) to set up the cellphone. However, the CEO of RackNine was able to trace a specific IP address associated with the calls, which belonged to a private home. In August 2012, Elections Canada investigators indicated that they had hit a dead end in the Poutine investigation, as
2336-855: A former investigator for the RCMP. Mathews had been previously involved in the investigation of Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney over the Airbus affair , as well as Privacy Commissioner Radwanski. The Conservative Party's investigation was conducted by Arthur Hamilton, a lead lawyer for the Conservative Party, who was previously involved in the Gomery inquiry, and the Helena Guergis and Rahim Jaffer investigations. Elections Canada followed up on at least two instances in which voters received robocalls supposedly from Elections Canada telling voters that their polling stations had been changed. In one instance, Eduardo Harari,
2482-406: A greater degree of government surveillance and an increase in the ability of intelligence authorities to access citizens’ data. While legality is a precondition for legitimate limitations of human rights, the issue is also whether a given law is aligned to other criteria for justification such as necessity, proportionality and legitimate purpose. The United Nations Human Rights Council has taken
2628-402: A higher callback rate. An affidavit filed to secure a search warrant reported that 7,760 call attempts were made in Guelph. The investigation into fraudulent calls in Guelph revealed that thousands of automated calls telling people their voting location had changed were sent shortly after 10:00 am on election day. Complaints flooded into Elections Canada, and a local returning officer called
2774-539: A list of outgoing calls from the same number. One of the calls was found to be made to RackNine; in November 2011 the investigator served RackNine with a production order for records. The account holder associated with the false calls was quickly identified. The owner of RackNine said that he had no idea what had transpired on election day until contacted by an Elections Canada investigator. Phone records show numbers connected with Guelph Conservative candidate Marty Burke and
2920-474: A list of telephone numbers from the Conservative Party's central database on April 30, the same day the Pierre Poutine account was created. Witnesses recalled that Conservative Party campaign worker Michael Sona had discussed his extensive plans for a disinformation campaign, including sending non-Conservative voters to the wrong poll locations. Both Prescott and Sona had denied any involvement in making
3066-587: A number of steps to highlight the importance of the universal right to privacy online. In 2015, in a resolution on the right to privacy in the digital age, it established a United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy. In 2017, the Human Rights Council emphasized that the ‘unlawful or arbitrary surveillance and/ or interception of communications, as well as the unlawful or arbitrary collection of personal data, as highly intrusive acts, violate
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#17327983236073212-492: A pattern was identified in which voters who had previously received phone calls from someone allegedly from the Conservative party and who had indicated that they would not be voting Conservative, subsequently received a robocall directing them to an incorrect polling station. Tim McCoy, in the riding of Ottawa—Vanier was one such person who had received a robocall falsely from Elections Canada but only after having received
3358-595: A phony vote location at the Quebec Street Mall; some voters ripped up their voter identification cards in anger. He also noted that all the voters who were targeted had previously indicated they would not vote for the Conservative Party of Canada , when they were contacted by the party. This caused the opposition parties to allege that the calls were a campaign by the Conservative Party to intimidate supporters of other parties. After being accused by some journalists and politicians of direct involvement, and having
3504-524: A pre-existing business relationship with the Conservative Party, Matt Meier, CEO of RackNine, has described his company as a "non-partisan firm, free from any party affiliation, bias, or designation", that provided services to "political parties across the political spectrum". However, in March 2012, Meier allegedly made a conflicting statement that the company held an exclusive contract with the Conservative Party that precluded them working for other parties during
3650-673: A prosecution under the Act be initiated." Lawyer Steven Shrybman, who represented the Council of Canadians in their related case , called the Elections Canada investigation "fatally flawed" and stated that it ignored key evidence presented. He charged that Côté failed "to pursue the central question to emerge about voter fraud during the Election". Shrybman said in a report he authored, "in spite of having narrowly confined his inquiry,
3796-423: A quadriplegia disability or having a disability in the hands. However, there is still a lack of access to technology and home internet access among those who have a cognitive and auditory disability as well. There is a concern of whether or not the increase in the use of information technologies will increase equality through offering opportunities for individuals living with disabilities or whether it will only add to
3942-510: A riding with no actual poll location changes. The affidavit states that other employees noticed that the change-of-location voting information was erroneous and discussed it on their breaks. When hearing another RMG employee use a script that identified himself as from Elections Canada, Desgagne said, "Dude, you're not from Elections Canada." RMG's spokesperson said that they did not call anyone but Conservative Party supporters, and that their scripts honestly and correctly identified themselves as from
4088-614: A temporary publication ban covering much of the content of the ITO orders, at the request of Sona's lawyer and agreed to by the Crown prosecutor, to ensure a fair trial. The filed court documents also clarify why the IP address used to set-up the RackNine calls traced to an uninvolved home address, as Rogers had incorrectly identified the holder of the IP address. It was confirmed that the correct user on
4234-408: A thorough understanding of how to shield their digital communications and traces, journalists and sources can unwittingly reveal identifying information. Employment of national security legislation, such as counter-terrorism laws , to override existing legal protections for source protection is also becoming a common practice. In many regions, persistent secrecy laws or new cybersecurity laws threaten
4380-461: A volunteer working on Ken Dryden 's Liberal campaign in York Centre , stated that the reason he had been told in one of the calls for the polling station location change was due to the high number of people voting at his polling station. Harari also said that he had received eight bilingual fake calls from Elections Canada telling him his polling station had changed, including one on April 21 and
4526-445: A witness. There were concerns that the Guelph robo-call user had access to the Conservative Party national voter identification database, known as "CIMS". The information from this database was used to target voters who identified themselves as voting against the Conservative Party. The CIMS database requires a secure login, and all use of the database is logged. Since the voters who were targeted had spoken (during legitimate calls) with
2011 Canadian federal election voter suppression scandal - Misplaced Pages Continue
4672-415: Is a factor in home-internet access disparities, there are still racial and ethnic inequalities that are present among those within lower income groups. 58% of low income Whites are reported to have home-internet access in comparison to 51% of Hispanics and 50% of Blacks. This information is reported in a report titled "Digital Denied: The Impact of Systemic Racial Discrimination on Home-Internet Adoption" which
4818-689: Is an automated message from Elections Canada. Due to a projected increase in voter turnout, your poll location has been changed. Your new voting location is at the Old Quebec Street Mall, at 55 Wyndham Street North. Once again, your new poll location is at the Old Quebec Street Mall, at 55 Wyndham Street North. If you have any questions, please call our hotline at 1-800-443-4456. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. (French version recorded in another woman's voice follows.)" Elections Canada emails were revealed under Access to Information requests, and exposed internal communications on
4964-797: Is based on internationally recognized laws and standards for human rights on freedom of expression and privacy set out in the UDHR, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Participants in the Initiative include the Electronic Frontier Foundation , Human Rights Watch , Google , Microsoft , Yahoo , other major companies, human rights NGOs, investors, and academics. According to reports, Cisco Systems
5110-400: Is being investigated by Elections Canada. Part of the Council of Canadians case involves expert witness testimony from Bob Penner, president and CEO of Strategic Communications Inc. Penner's affidavit says: "The only plausible explanation for such calling to have occurred is for someone at the senior level in a central political campaign to have authorized the strategy and provided the data and
5256-498: Is central to the Information Society. Everyone, everywhere should have the opportunity to participate and no one should be excluded from the benefits the Information Society offers. The 2004 WSIS Declaration of Principles also acknowledged that "it is necessary to prevent the use of information resources and technologies for criminal and terrorist purposes, while respecting human rights". Wolfgang Benedek comments that
5402-452: Is far more serious. They have actually disrupted the voting process." In response to the Guelph robocalls alone, 281 people called back Pierre Poutine's cellphone. A voice broadcasting expert contracted by Al Mathews of Elections Canada, estimated that at a typical one-percent call-back rate, the 281 call-backs indicated that many thousands of electors were affected, even considering that the nature of these calls would probably have resulted in
5548-472: Is in relation to the LGBTQIA community in public schools and libraries. There is also the presence of online abuse by online predators that target LGBTQIA members by seeking out their personal information and providing them with inaccurate information. The use of the internet can provide a way for LGBTQIA individuals to gain access to information to deal with societal setbacks through therapeutic advice, social support systems, and an online environment that fosters
5694-724: Is not moving with the kind of clarity and the kind of speed that they would expect of an organization which is intended to ensure Canadians that the electoral process in Canada is fair." In mid-January 2013 an Ontario court released records showing that an Elections Canada Information to Obtain order served on Rogers to obtain phone records had been completed. The telephone records pertained to 45 complaints of misleading or harassing phone calls. In mid-March 2013, after more than 21 months of investigation, Commissioner of Canada Elections Yves Côté recommended to Director of Public Prosecutions, Brian Saunders, that charges should be laid with regard to
5840-624: The European Commission and United States Government reached an agreement to replace Safe Harbour, the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield , which includes data protection obligations on companies receiving personal data from the European Union, safeguards on United States government access to data, protection and redress for individuals, and an annual joint review to monitor implementation. The European Court of Justice 's 2014 decision in
5986-555: The European Union General Data Protection Regulation states "Member States law should reconcile the rules governing freedom of expression and information, including journalistic...with the right to the protection of personal data pursuant to this Regulation. The processing of personal data solely for journalistic purposes...should be subject to derogations or exemptions from certain provisions of this Regulation if necessary to reconcile
2011 Canadian federal election voter suppression scandal - Misplaced Pages Continue
6132-615: The Index on Censorship , states that "the internet has been a revolution for censorship as much as for free speech". The concept of freedom of information has emerged in response to state sponsored censorship, monitoring and surveillance of the internet. Internet censorship includes the control or suppression of the publishing or accessing of information on the Internet . According to the Reporters without Borders (RSF) "internet enemy list"
6278-479: The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to be applied to the Internet . The Declaration recalls the duty of member states to the ICCPR to protect the right to freedom of expression with regard to the internet and in this context freedom of information. The Hacktivismo Declaration recognizes "the importance to fight against human rights abuses with respect to reasonable access to information on
6424-563: The Internet gateways . The system also selectively engages in DNS poisoning when particular sites are requested. The government does not appear to be systematically examining Internet content, as this appears to be technically impractical. Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China is conducted under a wide variety of laws and administrative regulations. In accordance with these laws, more than sixty Internet regulations have been made by
6570-680: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) conducted investigations into the claims that calls were made to dissuade voters from casting ballots by falsely telling them that the location of their polling stations had changed. Further possible electoral law violations were alleged as the evidence unfolded. Under the Canada Elections Act , it is an offence to willfully prevent, or endeavour to prevent, an elector from voting in an election. On Election Day, May 2, 2011, reports of voter suppression, mostly centred on
6716-472: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights , that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression ; that this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Communication is a fundamental social process, a basic human need and the foundation of all social organisation. It
6862-409: The affidavit of Annette Desgagne, a Responsive Marketing Group call centre worker who says that she and her co-workers were given scripts to mislead voters on election day into going to the wrong location to vote. Arthur Hamilton, a lawyer representing the Conservative Party, called the affidavit "false" and stated that he would seek to have the Council of Canadians court case thrown out as "flawed" and
7008-631: The "New Delhi Declaration on Inclusive ICTs for Persons with Disabilities: Making Empowerment a Reality". According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), "Open Standards" are standards made available to the general public and developed (or approved) and maintained via a collaborative and consensus driven process. "Open Standards" facilitate interoperability and data exchange among different products or services and are intended for widespread adoption." A UNESCO study considers that adopting open standards has
7154-485: The 2011 election, a standard requirement among all political parties. RackNine was used legitimately by a number of Conservative candidates, including Guelph Conservative candidate Marty Burke, and Conservative leader Stephen Harper in Calgary Southwest . In November 2011, an Edmonton judge ordered RackNine to turn over all correspondence, emails and records of contact between the company and representatives of
7300-433: The 2017 Reuters Institute Digital News Report, in 36 countries and territories surveyed, 51 per cent of adults 55 years and older consider television as their main news source, compared to only 24 per cent of respondents between 18 and 24. The pattern is reversed when it comes to online media, chosen by 64 per cent of users between 18 and 24 as their primary source, but only by 28 per cent of users 55 and older. According to
7446-612: The Arab Youth Survey, in 2016, 45 percent of the young people interviewed considered social media as a major source of news. Satellite television has continued to add global or transnational alternatives to national viewing options for many audiences. Global news providers such as the BBC , Al Jazeera , Agence France-Presse , RT (formerly Russia Today) and the Spanish-language Agencia EFE , have used
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#17327983236077592-610: The Caribbean (85 per cent), Asia and the Pacific (75 per cent), Western Europe and North America (66 per cent) and finally Africa, where 56 per cent of States examined had revised their source protection laws. As of 2015, at least 60 nations had adopted some form of whistle-blower protection. At the international level, the United Nations Convention against Corruption entered into force in 2005. By July 2017,
7738-591: The Commissioner draws an aggressive and overly broad conclusion that goes well beyond an acknowledgement that he was simply unable to identify the culprit or culprits behind the voter suppression calls that were widely reported...Remarkably, there is no indication that the Commissioner asked the CPC (Conservative Party of Canada) to produce the record of CIMS database use in the days leading to the Election to determine how often, and by whom, lists of non-CPC supporters were downloaded." Political scandal In politics ,
7884-466: The Commissioner of Canada Elections has been assisted by the RCMP in its investigation in fraudulent calls in the 41st general election." Pierre Poutine/Pierre Jones had also considered the idea of having calls made to Guelph constituents in the middle of the night, while spoofing the phone number of local Liberal party candidate Frank Valeriote. The intention was to anger and annoy the recipients of these phone calls. The message itself had been recorded but
8030-422: The Commissioner of Canada Elections indicated that the elections watchdog had received complaints of fraudulent or misleading calls in 247 of Canada's 308 ridings, recorded in all ten provinces and at least one territory. The allegations received widespread national media attention, and led to a series of protests in March and April 2012 in at least 27 Canadian cities. April 29, 2012, was termed by protest organizers
8176-502: The Commissioner of Canada Elections. In the Guelph investigation alone, Elections Canada is aware of at least 7,600 robocalls directing voters to the wrong voting station, which resulted in 68 formal complaints in the midst of intense local media coverage in Guelph on Election Day. While the messages directed to Guelph voters using RackNine's services were automated, there were also nationwide reports of calls made using live operators in addition to other reports of fraudulent robocalls across
8322-419: The Conservative Party and identified themselves as non-Conservative voters, the initiator of the robocalls ("Pierre Poutine") had been one of a limited number of Conservative Party staff or volunteers who had access to the voter database. The Conservative Party did not reveal the list of people who had access to this database. The party's investigator, lawyer Arthur Hamilton, instructed party workers not to discuss
8468-401: The Conservative Party general election campaign in Guelph, although Elections Canada made clear that "RackNine Inc. is not under investigation for an offence against this Act or any other Act of Parliament". Elections Canada traced the automated calls to a disposable cellphone in the 450 area code of Joliette , Quebec , and issued a subpoena to the cellphone provider. The provider produced
8614-659: The Conservative Party was 'running a scam' and its investigators traced the calls back to a 1-800 number that went to the Conservative Party headquarters." By mid-November 2012 the very slow pace of progress by Elections Canada in investigating the matter was causing concern among the Canadian public and the opposition parties. Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae said, "I don't have an explanation as to why it would be taking Elections Canada so long to indicate where it's going and how it's proceeding with this investigation. I'm increasingly hearing concerns from Canadians that Elections Canada
8760-663: The Conservative Party. Harari also reported having received a similar voter identification call from someone claiming to be from the Conservative party. Both Harari and Craig had indicated they would not be voting Conservative. Further investigation by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) seemed to reveal a similar pattern to that experienced by Harari and Craig. Mark Mayrand, the chief electoral officer, indicated that he had received over 700 calls from Canadians who claimed to have received deceptive calls purportedly from Elections Canada. Specifically,
8906-449: The Conservative Party. RMG further insisted that they made no change-of-address calls regarding voting locations. In August 2012, RMG CEO Andrew Langhorne filed an affidavit which called Desgagne's story "categorically false", and denied that the company even called opposition supporters in the last days of the election. He referred to a review of recordings of Desgagne's calls. However, court documents filed on November 5, 2012, showed that
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#17327983236079052-574: The Conservative party campaign in Guelph had planned to deceive non-Conservative party supporters by making misleading and harassing telephone calls, either directing voters to non-existent polling stations or by angering them by phoning them in the middle of the night. Liberal Member of Parliament Marc Garneau requested that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which "can investigate unsolicited calling activity without court orders", be involved in
9198-440: The Elections Canada investigation would have shown he was not involved by this point in time, but that given that there was no end in sight to the lengthy investigation, he felt he had to speak out. In the interview, Sona denied involvement and indicated that he was "not going to take responsibility for something that [he was] not responsible for". He added, "I think that there's some people that maybe had an interest in seeing me take
9344-540: The Google Spain case allowed people to claim a " right to be forgotten " or "right to be de-listed" in a much-debated approach to the balance between privacy, free expression and transparency. Following the Google Spain decision the "right to be forgotten" or "right to be de-listed" has been recognized in a number of countries across the world, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean. Recital 153 of
9490-566: The Guelph Conservative Party riding association made a total of 31 calls to RackNine between March 26 and early May. On March 28, 2012, Elections Canada indicated that they were closer to identifying the person behind the fraudulent robocalls in Guelph from records obtained from Rogers Communications under a production order. This followed a lead provided by RackNine who provided the IP address used both to set up and use to make
9636-611: The Guelph robocalls. On 2 April 2013 Conservative campaign worker Michael Sona was charged under section 491(3)d of the Canada Elections Act for preventing or trying to prevent a voter from casting a ballot, which carries a maximum penalty of a $ 5,000 fine and five years in prison. In June 2013, Croft Michaelson, the federal lawyer with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, confirmed that they were proceeding by indictment against Sona, which carries
9782-567: The Hacktivist Declaration states "but we oppose the use of state power to control access to the works of critics, intellectuals , artists , or religious figures." On October 29, 2008, the Global Network Initiative (GNI) was founded upon its "Principles on Freedom of Expression and Privacy". The Initiative was launched in the 60th Anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and
9928-424: The IP address they were tracing resolved to a Guelph residence apparently unconnected to the investigation, although the family living there was inadvertently running an open Wi-Fi connection. The IP address assignment was later shown to have been incorrect. As a result of the lack of progress in the Guelph investigation, the RCMP was called in. Diane Benson, a spokeswoman for Elections Canada, confirmed, "The office of
10074-578: The Information Society (WSIS) Declaration of Principles adopted in 2003 reaffirms democracy and the universality, indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Declaration also makes specific reference to the importance of the right to freedom of expression for the " Information Society " in stating: We reaffirm, as an essential foundation of the Information Society , and as outlined in Article 19 of
10220-630: The Internet" and calls upon the hacker community to "study ways and means of circumventing state sponsored censorship of the internet" and "implement technologies to challenge information rights violations". The Hacktivismo Declaration does, however, recognise that the right to freedom of expression is subject to limitations, stating "we recognized the right of governments to forbid the publication of properly categorized state secrets , child pornography , and matters related to personal privacy and privilege , among other accepted restrictions." However,
10366-632: The Liberal campaigns report that they did not send these calls. The campaigns explained that their campaigns are careful to respect religious observation on the Sabbath and definitely were not the source of these calls. Falsely misrepresenting oneself as a political party is a crime under the Canada Elections Act. On March 15, 2012, Elections Canada indicated that it would expand its investigation in response to additional complaints received. Tim Charbonneau, an Elections Canada investigator, joined Al Mathews,
10512-583: The Pacific, three in Latin America and the Caribbean, two in the Arab region and one in Western Europe and North America. During the same period, 23 countries revised their data protection laws, reflecting the new challenges to data protection in the digital era. According to Global Partners Digital, only four States have secured in national legislation a general right to encryption, and 31 have enacted national legislation that grants law enforcement agencies
10658-746: The People's Republic of China (PRC) government, and censorship systems are vigorously implemented by provincial branches of state-owned ISPs , business companies, and organizations. In 2010, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , speaking on behalf of the United States , declared 'we stand for a single internet where all of humanity has equal access to knowledge and ideas'. In her 'Remarks on Internet Freedom' she also draws attention to how 'even in authoritarian countries, information networks are helping people discover new facts and making governments more accountable', while reporting President Barack Obama 's pronouncement 'the more freely information flows,
10804-580: The Poutine account 1 minute apart: the first coming from the proxy, and the second coming from the Burke Campaign's office IP at 99.225.28.34." Rowland commented that this is "pretty great evidence, as it shows that someone had both passwords". On October 31, 2012, accused Conservative Party staff member Michael Sona, whom anonymous reports had named as responsible for the Guelph voter suppression efforts, gave an extensive media interview on CBC's Power & Politics . Sona stated that he had hoped that
10950-467: The RackNine web interface, logged out, and then logged into the Prescott account during the same browser session. This means Poutine logged out of his account, and then logged into the account used for the official calls without closing his browser tab. So it's not just what was reported so far — that the Poutine account and Prescott account were accessed by the same IP within 4 minutes of each other during
11096-525: The Responsive Marketing Group, using scripts provided by the Conservative Party, had called voters at the end of the election campaign telling them that their polling stations had been moved when they had not been moved. The factum was filed by Steven Shrybman for the plaintiffs. On January 14, 2013, the Ottawa Citizen posted an audio recording of a robocall recorded by a voter in London, Ontario, that
11242-512: The United Kingdom has theorised it as being an extension of freedom of speech , and a fundamental human right . It is recognized in international law . The international and United States Pirate Party have established political platforms based largely on freedom of information issues. There has been a significant increase in access to the Internet, which reached just over 5.35 billion users in 2024, amounting to about 66 per cent of
11388-506: The WSIS Declaration only contains a number of references to human rights and does not spell out any procedures or mechanism to assure that human rights are considered in practice. The digital rights group Hacktivismo , founded in 1999, argues that access to information is a basic human right . The group's beliefs are described fully in the "Hacktivismo Declaration" which calls for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
11534-508: The Wharton School of Public Policy, the expansion of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has resulted in multiple disparities that have had an impact on women's access to ICT with the gender gap being as high as 31% in some developing countries and 12% globally in 2016. Socioeconomic barriers that result from these disparities are known as what we call the digital divide. Among low-income countries and low-income regions alike,
11680-450: The calls as coming from the "Voter Outreach Centre", and told voters about false changes to voting stations. While speaking to voters to tell them that their voting location had changed, many voters told Desgagne that they had already voted or that the voting location was over an hour from their house. Desgagne said she remembered calling someone in the contested Nipissing—Temiskaming riding because she had repeated difficulty pronouncing it –
11826-405: The case may not result in a trial, but that would be determined at the next meeting on September 25, 2013, stating, "If there needs to be a trial, we'll set the date at that time." On January 15, 2014 it was announced that Andrew Prescott, the Conservative deputy campaign manager and IT coordinator in Guelph, had been granted immunity from prosecution in the case in exchange for his participation as
11972-502: The competencies of information and media literacy that enable users to be empowered and make full use of access to the Internet. The UNESCO's support for journalism education is an example of how UNESCO seeks to contribute to the provision of independent and verifiable information accessible in cyberspace . Promoting access for disabled persons has been strengthened by the UNESCO-convened conference in 2014, which adopted
12118-503: The concept of ‘equal rating’ and is being tested in experiments by Mozilla and Orange in Africa. Equal rating prevents prioritization of one type of content and zero-rates all content up to a specified data cap. Some countries in the region had a handful of plans to choose from (across all mobile network operators) while others, such as Colombia , offered as many as 30 pre-paid and 34 post-paid plans. In Western Europe and North America,
12264-501: The country. In one widely reported version, the caller identified themselves as representing Elections Canada and read a message that indicated that the voter's voting station had been moved "due to higher than anticipated voter turnout". This call was seen as suspicious by some recipients due to the fact that some of them had either already voted at their original voting station, had used the same voting station for decades, or were party staffers. Employees of Responsive Marketing Group Inc,
12410-472: The date in question was the Marty Burke campaign office. Further filed court documents indicated that the Conservative Party admitted that its CIMS database was used to create the list of non-Conservative supporters used, that five people in Guelph had accessed CIMS, and that Sona was not one of them. The pretrial conference on August 29, 2013, resulted in the judge, Justice Norman Douglas, indicating that
12556-500: The development of connectivity and affordable ICTs, including mobile, the Internet, and broadband infrastructures". Public access to government information, including through the open publication of information , and formal freedom of information laws , is widely considered an important basic component of democracy and integrity in government . Michael Buckland defines six types of barriers that have to be overcome in order for access to information to be achieved: identification of
12702-530: The development of online privacy regulations. In 2015 the European Court of Justice found that the so-called ‘Safe Harbour Agreement’, which allowed private companies to ‘legally transmit personal data from their European subscribers to the US’, was not valid under European law in that it did not offer sufficient protections for the data of European citizens or protect them from arbitrary surveillance. In 2016,
12848-501: The election was won by only 132 votes and a number of voters were sent to a phony voting location. Four ridings were won by fewer than 1,000 votes, including Nipissing—Timiskaming , Mississauga East—Cooksville , Winnipeg South Centre and Willowdale all of which experienced robo-calls. In three of these ridings, robocalls allegedly directed voters to false voting locations and in all four ridings complaints were filed. By March 2, Elections Canada had received 31,000 complaints related to
12994-592: The electronic media have covered it in depth. The Muckraker movement in American journalism was a component of the Progressive Era in the U.S. in the early 20th century. Journalists have built their careers on exposure of corruption and political scandal, often acting on behalf of the opposition party. The political ideology of media owners plays a role—they prefer to target the opposition but will reluctantly cover their own side. Journalists have to frame
13140-487: The events and suggested that others were involved as well. Mathews stated, "Sona also said in his media interviews that Elections Canada had told him in June that they had cleared him of involvement and that our investigation was completed. These last statements are wrong." Elections Canada presented evidence that at least one named voter was dissuaded from voting as a result of the deception. The case judge, Célynne Dorval, issued
13286-526: The events during the Elections Canada investigation of the Conservative Party headquarters. Elections Canada's investigation initially focused on complaints in Guelph, but reports of similar automated misdirection calls were received in some 200 ridings, in every province. The initial investigation was expanded with interviews in other ridings. Media reports published complaints of alleged fraudulent robocalls or harassing live calls in 100 ridings. The calls were reported from Yukon to Nipissing, Ontario. In Yukon,
13432-410: The evidence does not establish that calls were made a) with the intention of preventing or attempting to prevent an elector from voting, or b) for the purpose of inducing an elector by some pretence or contrivance to vote or not vote, or to vote or not vote for a particular candidate. This proof of intent is necessary for the Commissioner to consider recommending to the Director of Public Prosecutions that
13578-471: The fall for it." During the interview, he was asked who was involved and Sona stated, "You've got to take a look at the options and just say, you know what, what is the more realistic option here? That some then-22-year-old guy managed to co-ordinate this entire massive scheme when he didn't even have access to the data to be able to do this, or the alternative — that this was much more coordinated or possibly that there were people that knew how to do this, that it
13724-481: The following states engage in pervasive internet censorship: Cuba , Iran , Maldives , Myanmar / Burma , North Korea , Syria , Tunisia , Uzbekistan and Vietnam . A widely publicised example is the so-called " Great Firewall of China " (in reference both to its role as a network firewall and to the ancient Great Wall of China ). The system blocks content by preventing IP addresses from being routed through and consists of standard firewall and proxy servers at
13870-705: The form of accusations of benefit fraud and "faking" their disability for financial gain, which in some cases leads to unnecessary investigations. Women's freedom of information and access to information globally is less than men's. Social barriers such as illiteracy and lack of digital empowerment have created stark inequalities in navigating the tools used for access to information, often exacerbating lack of awareness of issues that directly relate to women and gender, such as sexual health . There have also been examples of more extreme measures, such as local community authorities banning or restricting mobile phone use for girls and unmarried women in their communities. According to
14016-462: The funds with which to carry it out." Some reports centred on live and automated calls falsely claiming to be from the Liberal Party. Voters reported rude calls, racist calls mimicking ethnic accents, or very-early or late-night phone calls from live callers. Jewish voters from ridings including Eglinton—Lawrence and York Centre reported receiving calls while observing the Sabbath, where
14162-551: The global digital divide. A digital divide is an economic and social inequality with regard to access to, use of, or impact of information and communication technologies (ICT). The divide within countries (such as the digital divide in the United States ) may refer to inequalities between individuals, households, businesses, or geographic areas, usually at different socioeconomic levels or other demographic categories. The divide between differing countries or regions of
14308-417: The high price of internet access presents a barrier to women since women are generally paid less and face an unequal dividend between paid and unpaid work. Cultural norms in certain countries may prohibit women from access to the internet and technology as well by preventing women from attaining a certain level of education or from being the breadwinners in their households, thus resulting in a lack of control in
14454-595: The household finances. However, even when women have access to ICT, the digital divide is still prevalent. A number of states, including some that have introduced new laws since 2010, notably censor voices from and content related to the LGBTQI community, posing serious consequences to access to information about sexual orientation and gender identity . Digital platforms play a powerful role in limiting access to certain content, such as YouTube's 2017 decision to classify non-explicit videos with LGBTQIA themes as 'restricted',
14600-411: The illegal robocalls. In August, a more detailed analysis of Elections Canada court filings showed that Andrew Prescott and "Pierre Poutine" had used the same computer in the middle of the night of 1–2 May 2011, within minutes of each other, without signing out in between. Direct Leap Technologies CEO Simon Rowland explained the court filings: "on May 1 and 2, on three occasions Pierre Poutine logged into
14746-524: The internet and satellite television to better reach audiences across borders and have added specialist broadcasts to target specific foreign audiences. Reflecting a more outward looking orientation, China Global Television Network (CGTN), the multi-language and multi-channel grouping owned and operated by China Central Television , changed its name from CCTV-NEWS in January 2017. After years of budget cuts and shrinking global operations, in 2016 BBC announced
14892-619: The internet can hinder these things, due to lack of broadband access in remote rural areas. LGBT Tech has emphasized launching newer technologies with 5G technology in order to help close the digital divide that can cause members of the LGBTQIA community to lose access to reliable and fast technology that can provide information on healthcare, economic opportunities, and safe communities. There are also other factors that can prevent LGBTQIA members from accessing information online or subject them to having their information abused. Internet filters are also used to censor and restrict LGBTQIA content that
15038-403: The internet, up from 34 per cent in 2012. Despite the significant increase in absolute numbers, however, in the same period the annual growth rate of internet users has slowed down, with five per cent annual growth in 2017, dropping from a 10 per cent growth rate in 2012. The number of unique mobile cellular subscriptions increased from 3.89 billion in 2012 to 4.83 billion in 2016, two-thirds of
15184-466: The investigation. On May 4, 2012, a court filing by Elections Canada investigator Allan Mathews indicated that the same IP address used to create the misleading calls on RackNine's service was also used within four minutes by Conservative campaign staff member Andrew Prescott to make legitimate RackNine calls. The IP address was assigned to a computer in the campaign headquarters of Guelph Conservative candidate Marty Burke. Prescott also allegedly downloaded
15330-439: The last on May 2. While Harari did report the calls to Elections Canada during and after the election, he was only contacted by Elections Canada after the second call. Charbonneau also interviewed Peggy Walsh Craig of Nipissing—Timiskaming , who said she had received a robocall purportedly from Elections Canada. Craig also stated that she received voter-identification calls earlier in the campaign ostensibly from someone representing
15476-643: The majority of countries around the globe, 179 in total, had ratified the convention, which includes provisions for the protection of whistleblowers . Regional conventions against corruption that contain protection for whistle-blowers have also been widely ratified. These include the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption , which has been ratified by 33 Member States, and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption , which
15622-427: The matter. At 11:06 am on election day, May 2, 2011, election officer Anita Hawdur sent an email to legal counsel Karen McNeil titled: "URGENT Conservative campaign office communication with electors". Hawdur reported that returning officers also called to ask about the calls. Another email was sent from legal counsel to Ronnie Molnar, the deputy Chief Electoral Officer who in turn emailed a senior director: "This one
15768-511: The maximum penalty. In May 2013 Marc Mayrand, the head of Elections Canada, confirmed that witnesses who work for the Conservative Party of Canada were not cooperating with the investigation. In April 2014 Elections Canada announced that no further charges would be laid. Yves Côté, Commissioner of Canada Elections, said in a press release, "ultimately, investigators have been able to determine that incorrect poll locations were provided to some electors, and that some nuisance calls occurred. However,
15914-434: The middle of the night. It's also that on three separate occasions, someone with both the Prescott and Poutine account passwords used the same browser window to log into both accounts. Also, Poutine logged into RackNine through the proxy, closed his browser window, and 1 minute later logged in again, but this time forgot to go to the proxy website first, accidentally accessing the site directly. There were two session records for
16060-517: The only person of color in a small-town restaurant was met with racist and hateful messages. When reporting the online abuse to Facebook, her account was suspended by Facebook for three days for posting the screenshots while those responsible for the racist comments she received were not suspended. Shared experiences between people of color can be at risk of being silenced under removal policies for online platforms. Inequities in access to information technologies are present among individuals living with
16206-441: The perpetrators of a terror attack. Rapid changes in the digital environment , coupled with contemporary journalist practice that increasingly relies on digital communication technologies, pose new risks for the protection of journalism sources. Leading contemporary threats include mass surveillance technologies, mandatory data retention policies, and disclosure of personal digital activities by third party intermediaries. Without
16352-557: The potential to contribute to the vision of a ‘digital commons’ in which citizens can freely find, share, and re-use information. Promoting Free and open-source software , which is both free of cost and freely modifiable could help meet the particular needs of marginalized users advocacy on behalf of minority groups, such as targeted outreach, better provision of Internet access, tax incentives for private companies and organizations working to enhance access, and solving underlying issues of social and economic inequalities The World Summit on
16498-411: The power to intercept or decrypt encrypted communications . Since 2010, to increase the protection of the information and communications of their users and to promote trust in their services’. High-profile examples of this have been WhatsApp 's implementation of full end-to-end encryption in its messenger service, and Apple 's contestation of a law enforcement warrant to unlock an iPhone used by
16644-425: The present inequalities and lead to individuals living with disabilities being left behind in society. Issues such as the perception of disabilities in society, Federal and state government policy, corporate policy, mainstream computing technologies, and real-time online communication have been found to contribute to the impact of the digital divide on individuals with disabilities. People with disabilities are also
16790-401: The primacy of television as a main source of information is being challenged by the internet, while in other regions, such as Africa, television is gaining greater audience share than radio, which has historically been the most widely accessed media platform. Age plays a profound role in determining the balance between radio, television and the internet as the leading source of news. According to
16936-463: The protection of freedom of speech as a right includes not only the content, but also the means of expression. Freedom of information is a separate concept which sometimes comes into conflict with the right to privacy in the content of the Internet and information technology . As with the right to freedom of expression, the right to privacy is a recognized human right and freedom of information acts as an extension to this right. The government of
17082-530: The protection of individuals with regard to automatic processing of personal data , has undergone a modernization process to address new challenges to privacy. Since 2012, four new countries belonging to the Council of Europe have signed or ratified the Convention, as well as three countries that do not belong to the Council, from Africa and Latin America. Regional courts are also playing a noteworthy role in
17228-451: The protection of sources, such as when they give governments the right to intercept online communications in the interest of overly broad definitions of national security. Developments in regards to source protection laws have occurred between 2007 and mid-2015 in 84 (69 per cent) of the 121 countries surveyed. The Arab region had the most notable developments, where 86 per cent of States had demonstrated shifts, followed by Latin America and
17374-433: The protection of the right to freedom of expression with regard to the Internet and information technology . Freedom of information may also concern censorship in an information technology context, i.e. the ability to access Web content , without censorship or restrictions . According to Kuzmin and Parshakova, access to information entails learning in formal and informal education settings. It also entails fostering
17520-429: The question of which subset group is protected is presented, the correct answer was white men. Minority group language is negatively impacted by automated tools of hate detection due to human bias that ultimately decides what is considered hate speech and what is not. Online platforms have also been observed to tolerate hateful content towards people of color but restrict content from people of color. Aboriginal memes on
17666-564: The racial divide. Hate-speech rules as well as hate speech algorithms online platforms such as Facebook have favored white males and those belonging to elite groups in society over marginalized groups in society, such as women and people of color. In a collection of internal documents that were collected in a project conducted by ProPublica, Facebook's guidelines in regards to distinguishing hate speech and recognizing protected groups revealed slides that identified three groups, each one containing either female drivers, black children, or white men. When
17812-527: The result as "highly statistically significant and we can say with confidence that this is not an artifact of chance." and that "These results strongly suggest that significant voter-suppression activities took place that were targeted at non-Conservative voters" The polling data indicated that the number of voters affected could have affected the election results in a number of ridings. The EKOS poll aimed to answer three questions: to what extent may voter suppression techniques have been used to influence outcomes in
17958-409: The riding of Guelph , led to the discovery that a computer in the Guelph campaign office had possibly been used to make the calls. While the Elections Canada investigation initially focused on calls sent into Guelph amidst nationwide complaints, the investigation expanded to complaints in other Conservative Party of Canada campaign offices across the country. Court documents filed in mid-August 2012 by
18104-474: The right to privacy, can interfere with other human rights, including the right to freedom of expression and to hold opinions without interference’. Number of regional efforts, particularly through the courts, to establish regulations that deal with data protection, privacy and surveillance, and which affect their relationship to journalistic uses. The Council of Europe ’s Convention 108, the Convention for
18250-657: The right to the protection of personal data with the right to freedom of expression and information, as enshrined in Article 11 of the Charter." The number of countries around the world with data protection laws has also continued to grow. According to the World Trends Report 2017/2018, between 2012 and 2016, 20 UNESCO Member States adopted data protection laws for first time, bringing the global total to 101. Of these new adoptions, nine were in Africa, four in Asia and
18396-475: The robocall scandal. These complaints were not necessarily all reports from voters personally affected by the robocalls, but rather voicing concern about the robocalls and their impact on Canadian democracy. On March 29, Elections Canada reported that they had received 800 actual reports from voters who alleged that they had been called and given misleading polling information. By mid-August, the number of reports had risen to 1,394 according to court documents filed by
18542-400: The robocalls to constituents in Guelph. Elections Canada emphasized that RackNine itself was not under investigation, and the company had fully cooperated. Investigators pointed out that whoever set up the account which sent out the fraudulent recorded messages tried hard to cover his or her electronic tracks by using a prepaid credit card to buy a prepaid cellphone, registered an account under
18688-492: The seven ridings; if voter suppression activities occurred, did they deliberately target electors who were supporters of particular political parties and how effective were any suppression activities in discouraging those from casting a ballot who would otherwise have voted? In mid-November 2012 a media Access to Information Act request resulted in the release of emails that showed that Elections Canada had already received many complaints from voters about calls directing them to
18834-514: The source, availability of the source, price of the user, cost to the provider, cognitive access, acceptability. While "access to information", "right to information", " right to know " and "freedom of information" are sometimes used as synonyms, the diverse terminology does highlight particular (albeit related) dimensions of the issue. Freedom of information is related to freedom of expression , which can apply to any medium, be it oral, writing, print, electronic, or through art forms. This means that
18980-1041: The story in terms of the audience's values and expectations to maximize the impact. Access to Information#Canada Freedom of information is freedom of a person or people to publish and have access to information. Access to information is the ability for an individual to seek, receive and impart information effectively. As articulated by UNESCO , it encompasses "scientific, indigenous , and traditional knowledge; freedom of information, building of open knowledge resources, including open Internet and open standards , and open access and availability of data; preservation of digital heritage ; respect for cultural and linguistic diversity , such as fostering access to local content in accessible languages; quality education for all, including lifelong and e-learning ; diffusion of new media and information literacy and skills, and social inclusion online, including addressing inequalities based on skills, education, gender, age, race, ethnicity, and accessibility by those with disabilities; and
19126-500: The stronger societies become'. The increasing access to and reliance on digital media to receive and produce information have increased the possibilities for States and private sector companies to track individuals’ behaviors, opinions and networks. States have increasingly adopted laws and policies to legalize monitoring of communication, justifying these practices with the need to defend their own citizens and national interests. In parts of Europe, new anti-terrorism laws have enabled
19272-457: The targets of online abuse. Online disability hate crimes have increased by 33% within the past year across the UK according to a report published by Leonard Cheshire.org. Accounts of online hate abuse towards people with disabilities were shared during an incident in 2019 when model Katie Price's son was the target of online abuse that was attributed to him having a disability. In response to the abuse,
19418-621: The work of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development , co-chaired by UNESCO, and the Internet Governance Forum ’s intersessional work on ‘Connecting the Next Billion' are proof of the international commitments towards providing Internet access for all. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), by the end of 2017, an estimated 48 per cent of individuals regularly connect to
19564-661: The world is referred to as the global digital divide , examining this technological gap between developing and developed countries on an international scale. Although many groups in society are affected by a lack of access to computers or the internet, communities of color are specifically observed to be negatively affected by the digital divide. This is evident when it comes to observing home-internet access among different races and ethnicities. 81% of Whites and 83% of Asians have home internet access, compared to 70% of Hispanics, 68% of Blacks, 72% of American Indian/Alaska Natives, and 68% of Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders. Although income
19710-497: The world's population. But the digital divide continues to exclude over half of the world's population, particularly women and girls, and especially in Africa and the least developed countries as well as several Small Island Developing States . Further, individuals with disabilities can either be advantaged or further disadvantaged by the design of technologies or through the presence or absence of training and education . Access to information faces great difficulties because of
19856-430: The world’s population, with more than half of subscriptions located in Asia and the Pacific. The number of subscriptions is predicted to rise to 5.69 billion users in 2020. As of 2016, almost 60 per cent of the world’s population had access to a 4G broadband cellular network, up from almost 50 per cent in 2015 and 11 per cent in 2012. The limits that users face on accessing information via mobile applications coincide with
20002-462: The wrong polling location days before the election was actually held. Elections Canada had identified that these calls originated with the Conservative Party and had contacted the party before the election. Conservative Party officials admitted they were calling voters but denied they were misleading anyone. On the Sunday before the elections Elections Canada lawyer Michèle René de Cotret wrote that there
20148-455: The wrong voting locations. The calls were falsely displayed as originating from Liberal candidate Frank Valeriote 's campaign office. A PayPal account was used to pay for the calls to RackNine, and logged Poutine's credit card information. Both RackNine and Paypal turned over activity and transaction logs to investigators. A transcript of the false robocall in Guelph, used on election day to impersonate an Elections Canada official, reads: "This
20294-428: Was "some mischief purportedly done by representatives of the Conservative party calling people to tell them that the location of their polling site has been moved." In response to this new information NDP MP Charlie Angus stated, "the defence of the Conservatives is starting to crumble because now we have the information to access documents that reveal that Elections Canada was so concerned about voter fraud, it believed
20440-678: Was being done? ... I don't know for sure who it could have been, but I will say this. It's interesting that you had a bunch of people come out and point the finger at me, officially to Elections Canada, only after my name was leaked to the media by anonymous sources." In November 2012, the Guelph Mercury reported that Burke's campaign manager, Ken Morgan, had moved to Kuwait, changed his email, left no phone number and refused to speak with Elections Canada. In August 2013, court filings made by Mathews as part of Information to Obtain (ITO) court orders showed that Sona admitted his involvement in
20586-488: Was found guilty of one violation of the Elections Act. In February 2012, Postmedia News and the Ottawa Citizen reported that during the 2011 Canadian federal election, misleading phone calls were made in at least 14 ridings, including Guelph , Ontario . The calls directed voters to the wrong polling stations . The fraudulent, automated calls displayed the phone number of a prepaid "burner phone", registered to
20732-500: Was invited to the initial discussions but did not take part in the initiative. Harrington Investments , which proposed that Cisco establish a human rights board, has dismissed the GNI as a voluntary code of conduct not having any impact. Chief executive John Harrington called the GNI "meaningless noise" and instead calls for bylaws to be introduced that force boards of directors to accept human rights responsibilities. Jo Glanville, editor of
20878-498: Was not transmitted. Meier also informed Elections Canada that "Pierre" had telephoned him on his "unlisted office number" and had asked to speak with him personally when initially setting up the account. Elections Canada investigator Allan Mathews said, "Pierre referred to knowing someone in the Conservative Party", and, "In Meier's view, these facts mean someone must have given Pierre his contact information". According to court filings, Elections Canada alleged that someone connected to
21024-651: Was published by the DC-based public interest group Fress Press. The report concludes that structural barriers and discrimination that perpetuates bias against people of different races and ethnicities contribute to having an impact on the digital divide. The report also concludes that those who do not have internet access still have a high demand for it, and reduction in the price of home-internet access would allow for an increase in equitable participation and improve internet adoption by marginalized groups. Digital censorship and algorithmic bias are observed to be present in
21170-854: Was ratified by 36 UNESCO Member States. In 2009, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Council adopted the Recommendation for Further Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. According to the World Trends Report , access to a variety of media increased between 2012 and 2016. The internet has registered the highest growth in users supported by massive investments in infrastructure and significant uptake in mobile usage. The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,
21316-604: Was wrong and possibly illegal, and informed their supervisors and the RCMP. Their supervisors told them to stick to their script. The RCMP in Thunder Bay referred it to the RCMP in Ottawa. Cpl. Laurence Trottier referred it to Elections Canada. Elections Canada has a policy of not discussing ongoing investigations and refused to make any statements. The legal challenge brought forward by the Council of Canadians case relies on
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