Burnaby's two members of Parliament say they are receiving calls from constituents about possible robocalls they received during the 2011 federal election.
Burnaby-Douglas MP Kennedy Stewart said he has received one report of a misleading "robocall" - an automated phone call - about poll station times.
"A gentleman who went door-knocking for me on election day, he sent an email saying when he was door-knocking someone told him, 'I just got a call telling me the polls close at 4 o'clock' when they really close at 7, and it was a robocall," Stewart said in a phone interview with the NOW.
The volunteer's memory of the incident was triggered by recent reports of fraudulent robocalls claiming to be from Elections Canada but giving false information about polling times and locations.
"It's exactly what we're hearing right across the country," Stewart said, adding that one recorded call that was played during a news program was exactly like the call his volunteer reported.
But he added he plans to carefully research claims of robocalls before assigning blame to anyone.
"I'm taking quite a cautious approach to this," he said. "I don't want to accuse anyone of doing wrong if they haven't."
At this point, his office is working to verify the one report he's received, he said.
As for why anyone would go to the trouble of setting up misleading robocalls and live calls across the country, Stewart pointed out misinformation could have a big effect in a riding where the race is close.
Stewart, running for the New Democrat Party, won by 1,011 votes over Conservative candidate Ronald Leung.
"In a close riding like mine, if you suppress the NDP vote, you could help the Conservatives win," he said.
Fellow NDP MP Peter Julian, who represents the riding of Burnaby-New Westminster, told Stewart he's received a handful of reports of possible fraudulent calls.
Julian put out a press release saying the MPs' offices are investigating the claims.
"We have to stress that it is still too early to say whether these specific claims can be verified," Julian said in the release. "However, we encourage anyone who believes they might have information to contact Elections Canada toll-free at 1800463-6868."
Incident reports for the May 2011 election were released by Elections Canada after an Access to Information request was filed by Postmedia News and the Ottawa Citizen.
According to the report, there were only five incidents reported to Elections Canada that affected polling station operations in B.C. None of the reports involved misleading phone calls.
In Burnaby, the only incident reported was a polling station at Simon Fraser University - in the Burnaby-Douglas riding - that was closed from 2: 15 to 2: 55 p.m. due to fire alarm testing at the university.
But Stewart said constituents might not have known whom to contact about misleading calls.
His campaign office was closed as of Election Day, he explained.
"So if it happened on Election Day there would've been no way for people to get a hold of us," he said.
And constituents may not have known to contact Elections Canada if they did receive a call, he added.
According to Stewart, Elections Canada is investigating calls made in two Ontario ridings, one in Guelph and one in Thunder Bay, and so far reports of misleading calls have been made from 59 ridings throughout the country.
However, Elections Canada would not confirm any investigations at this point, to protect the investigative process, said Diane Benson, a spokesperson with Elections Canada.
"We have had calls," she said in response to a question about complaints, adding that Elections Canada has "a very experienced workforce that can attend to large volumes of calls" and that each call was being handled individually.
Benson emailed a link to Elections Canada's penalties for general offences, saying that she could not list specific possible penalties for specific acts, as penalties are determined on a case-by-case basis.
Anyone found guilty of obstructing the electoral process can face fines of $5,000, five years in prison, or both, according to Elections Canada's table of offences.
If constituents believe they received a fraudulent call, they need to submit a complaint in writing to the commissioner of Elections Canada, she said.
They should include their name, mailing address, phone number and email address, as well as a description of the circumstances behind the complaint.
Specific, relevant details such as dates, places or documents should be included, as well as the section of the Canada Elections Act related to the complaint if it is known.
Complaints must be received within 10 years of the offence being committed.
Send complaints by email to [email protected] or by mail to: Commissioner of Canada Elections c/o Elections Canada, 257 Slater St. Ottawa, Ont. K1A 0M6.
For more information go to the FAQ section at www.elections.ca.
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