Robocalls inappropriate, says Peter MacKay

The Conservative Party does not need tolook into"robocalls" made during the last federal election any further,Defence Minister Peter MacKay says.

"It's certainly not something our party condones," MacKay said Sunday of the fraudulent calls to voters. "It's inappropriate behaviour to say the least."

Such calls,known as avoter-suppression tactic, are illegal under the Elections Act. Both the NDP and the Liberals say at least 34 federal ridings were targeted during the last election, including two in Nova Scotia.

Voters in the Ontario riding of Guelph complained they weredeliberately misdirected to non-existent polling stationsthrough an automatic or "robodialing" operation.

Nine Conservative campaignsused the services of Racknine, the call centre whose services were used for the fraudulent calls in Ontario. That company was linked to the fraudulent calls.

Last week, a federal Conservative staff member resigned after it was reported thatElections Canada was investigating the calls.Michael Sona, who until Friday worked in Conservative MP Eve Adams's office, also worked for Conservatives in Guelph, Ont. There is no public evidence he was involved in the robocalls.

Although he believes the case was isolated, MacKay said further actionwould be warranted if more peoplewere involved.

"If there is information that is out there that's really an issue for elections Canada, or further, if there's criminal activity involved, that information should be given to police," he said. "Really if it's broader, ifthere are more individuals, then I think it's an investigation for Elections Canada."

In Nova Scotia, Sydney-Victoria Liberal MP Mark EykingsaidLiberal supportersin his riding received late-night calls sending them to polling stations that didn't exist, but the calls came from an individual.He said he didn't file a complaint after his election victory.