Although the scandals in Ottawa continue to compound, it's worth
noting that the scandal that literally kicked off the Federal
government's first majority term in office is still very unresolved. The
2011 robocall controversy does still occasionally swim in and out of
the media consciousness, but despite a singular arrest, the case is far
from closed, and a great many questions remain unanswered. One of those
truth seekers though is Michael Keefer, an emeritus professor at the
University of...
Although the scandals in Ottawa continue to compound, it's worth
noting that the scandal that literally kicked off the Federal
government's first majority term in office is still very unresolved. The
2011 robocall controversy does still occasionally swim in and out of
the media consciousness, but despite a singular arrest, the case is far
from closed, and a great many questions remain unanswered. One of those
truth seekers though is Michael Keefer, an emeritus professor at the
University of Guelph. He's doing a talk in Guelph on March 13 outlining
his case and what he's uncovered so far.
The
lecture, entitled "Sabotaging Democracy: The Conservative Party's
Telephone Fraud in the 2011 Election," will be given March 13 in the
Mackinnon Building, Room 120, 7-9 pm on the University of Guelph campus.
"Sabotaging Democracy" is also the name of a book that Keefer is
currently in the process of finishing* and is expected to be released
sometime later this year
(*In the interest of full disclosure,
the author told me that me, or rather this blog, was quoted in one of
the chapters of the book in regards to how the scandal unfolded.)
Keefer
himself is a Professor Emeritus in the School of English and Theatre
Studies at the University of Guelph, he taught there for 20 years and
wrote on English Renaissance literature, early modern philosophy and
textual-critical theory. Recently, he's been more focused on modern
political matters, authoring articles and essays on electoral fraud,
Canadian foreign policy and other topics.
Description of the talk:
In
April 2011, Canada's governing party organized a nationwide campaign of
telephone fraud aimed at suppressing the turnout of opposition
voters--who were targeted in ridings across the country by well over
three-quarters of a million vote-suppression phone calls. There is
evidence that this fraud gave the Harper Conservatives their
parliamentary majority. Michael Keefer's scrupulous analysis shows that
there is also evidence as as to how this 'state crime against democracy'
was organized, and how a lethargic and underfunded enforcement system
has enabled its perpetrators to escape scot-free.
You can stream the episode here, or download it from the source here.
The theme music for Guelph Politicast is "Volksing Ferretismico" by Goto80 and the Uwe Schenk Band from
Silent Movie Pianos 1 - Action and Marches.
View more
