Said1
Gold Member
Updated Wed. Mar. 10 2004 8:12 AM ET
www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1078851334442_74260534/?hub=TopStories
Copps set to appeal her defeat in Hamilton Race CTV.ca News Staff
Sheila Copps alleges there was more than just dirty tricks involved in her defeat for the Liberal nomination in her Hamilton riding -- there was criminal wrongdoing. She has asked the RCMP to investigate and plans to appeal her defeat to the Liberal party.
Copps says "massive, orchestrated fraud" led to her defeat in the fight for the newly-created riding of Hamilton East-Stoney Creek and her ouster from Parliament.
She says dirty tricks were used to ensure that Transport Minister Tony Valeri won Saturday's nomination. "We have pretty massive evidence of vote buying," Copps told reporters outside the Commons. "I think it was well planned, well orchestrated and it follows a pattern."
The former deputy prime minister says her supporters were denied entry to the nomination meeting, they were charged $10 for parking while Valeri's supporters were ushered in for free, and her opponent's campaign broke electoral rules by providing free memberships to supporters. "Between the pre-arranged rides and the buses, we know that we personally delivered over 3,000 people to the meeting," Copps said. "And yet the final count mysteriously shows us with 2,400 people voting."
What's more, Copps believes that someone broke into her phone system over the weekend and changed an outgoing message that offered her supporters a ride to the nomination vote.
She says if supporters called her office on the morning of the vote to get a ride to the polls, the confusing message they got was, "Hi, Bob. Please leave a message." Copps suggested she has suspicions on who was involved, but wouldn't name names."I think whoever tapped into our phone system obviously can be tracked by the police. And we can find out who was involved," she told CTV News. Copps has asked the RCMP and Elections Canada to investigate.
While totals from Saturday's vote were not officially released, the final margin was reportedly 311 votes out of 5,313 ballots cast.
Copps has alleged that Liberal brass took sides in the battle, suggesting party leadership "selectively used the rules to massage an outcome." Copps has said that she received a final list of voters eligible for the vote only hours before polling began. She says that hundreds of hersupporters who had transferred their memberships to the new riding were "mysteriously missing" from the list -- including her riding president and her own mother.
The chief returning officer at the meeting agrees the voter list was a problem. "It was the worst voters list at any meeting in all the years I've done this," Jack Siegel said, though he added that the meeting was as fair as possible.
Copps said she told Martin last month that party members had violated the Canada Elections Act by buying Liberal memberships for
Valeri supporters. Copps says Martin tried to contact her Monday night, but she thought it was to offer her a patronage appointment and she refused to speak to him. "The prime minister said in the past he's interested in extending me an appointment. I don't want an appointment. My silence won't be purchased," Copps explained.
Wasn't Copps accused of "wasting" money during Chretien's watch???
www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1078851334442_74260534/?hub=TopStories
Copps set to appeal her defeat in Hamilton Race CTV.ca News Staff
Sheila Copps alleges there was more than just dirty tricks involved in her defeat for the Liberal nomination in her Hamilton riding -- there was criminal wrongdoing. She has asked the RCMP to investigate and plans to appeal her defeat to the Liberal party.
Copps says "massive, orchestrated fraud" led to her defeat in the fight for the newly-created riding of Hamilton East-Stoney Creek and her ouster from Parliament.
She says dirty tricks were used to ensure that Transport Minister Tony Valeri won Saturday's nomination. "We have pretty massive evidence of vote buying," Copps told reporters outside the Commons. "I think it was well planned, well orchestrated and it follows a pattern."
The former deputy prime minister says her supporters were denied entry to the nomination meeting, they were charged $10 for parking while Valeri's supporters were ushered in for free, and her opponent's campaign broke electoral rules by providing free memberships to supporters. "Between the pre-arranged rides and the buses, we know that we personally delivered over 3,000 people to the meeting," Copps said. "And yet the final count mysteriously shows us with 2,400 people voting."
What's more, Copps believes that someone broke into her phone system over the weekend and changed an outgoing message that offered her supporters a ride to the nomination vote.
She says if supporters called her office on the morning of the vote to get a ride to the polls, the confusing message they got was, "Hi, Bob. Please leave a message." Copps suggested she has suspicions on who was involved, but wouldn't name names."I think whoever tapped into our phone system obviously can be tracked by the police. And we can find out who was involved," she told CTV News. Copps has asked the RCMP and Elections Canada to investigate.
While totals from Saturday's vote were not officially released, the final margin was reportedly 311 votes out of 5,313 ballots cast.
Copps has alleged that Liberal brass took sides in the battle, suggesting party leadership "selectively used the rules to massage an outcome." Copps has said that she received a final list of voters eligible for the vote only hours before polling began. She says that hundreds of hersupporters who had transferred their memberships to the new riding were "mysteriously missing" from the list -- including her riding president and her own mother.
The chief returning officer at the meeting agrees the voter list was a problem. "It was the worst voters list at any meeting in all the years I've done this," Jack Siegel said, though he added that the meeting was as fair as possible.
Copps said she told Martin last month that party members had violated the Canada Elections Act by buying Liberal memberships for
Valeri supporters. Copps says Martin tried to contact her Monday night, but she thought it was to offer her a patronage appointment and she refused to speak to him. "The prime minister said in the past he's interested in extending me an appointment. I don't want an appointment. My silence won't be purchased," Copps explained.
Wasn't Copps accused of "wasting" money during Chretien's watch???
