Dean Del Mastro

[41st General Election, March 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, my recollection of the week is somewhat different from that of the member opposite. I remember early in the week when the leader of the Liberal Party had to stand in his place and apologize for a dirty, sleazy, underhanded attack on the Minister of Public Safety. That is part of my recollection from this week.

What I can say to the member opposite is the Liberals have known all along that the Liberal Party spent millions of dollars to make hundreds of thousands of calls to people right across this country. Those callers called on behalf of the Liberal Party and Liberal candidates. Is it not plausible to the member that those are the source of the calls the Liberals are complaining about?

[41st General Election, March 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot speak to that. Perhaps it is the cappuccino machine in the opposition lobby. I have no idea what the hon. member is hearing.

What I can say unequivocally is that everything that the member just indicated is an unsubstantiated smear. He has absolutely no evidence. In fact, on part of the evidence that the NDP has provided, one of its own members has come out and said that it is just not true. It is not us saying it. It is an NDP riding association president who is saying that it is just not true. The NDP should answer for that.

[41st General Election, March 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I do not want to accuse anyone of lying but it certainly seems there may be some misrepresentations, specifically on the part of the NDP.

“There’s just no way that I can add any fuel to this fire, if there is a fire,” said Wolfgang Ziemer, who was the NDP riding association president in South Shore–St. Margaret’s, Nova Scotia during the campaign. “I have no idea how the riding got on the list”.

Is that part of the hon. member's evidence?

What we can say is that the Liberal Party paid millions of dollars to do hundreds of thousands of calls right across this country. Is it not plausible that those are the calls?

[41st General Election, March 2nd, 2012]

That is very interesting, Mr. Speaker. Of course, I need to correct what the member just said because I am sure he wants to be factual in what he says. Elections Canada has reported 31,000 contacts, not complaints, and, secondly, the Conservative Party is doing no such thing.

As we have said in the House many times, everything that the Conservative Party has done is available to Elections Canada. We have nothing to apologize for but perhaps the NDP does because we see the riding president from South Shore—St. Margaret's is now saying, “There's just no way that I can add any fuel to this fire, if there is a fire. I have no idea how the riding got on the list”.

Perhaps the hon. member would like—

[40th General Election, March 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, a B.C. Liberal candidate wrote in a letter to the editor that Liberals rely on First Contact. First Contact relies on patented technology. The patent and the server are based in the U.S.

That is very interesting because, when I review information on the Liberal Party and its efforts in British Columbia, I see that they have used this company quite a bit. It seems that they were robodialing quite a number of people on behalf of the Liberal Party. They were indicating that they were calling on behalf of the Liberal Party, because it appears that they were.

Nonetheless, the Liberal Party has conducted an unsubstantiated smear campaign. It is reprehensible.

[41st General Elections, March 1st, 2012]

No, not at all, Mr. Speaker. In fact, it appears the Liberal Party spent a significant amount of money in the Kitchener area on these U.S.-based companies to make robocalls on its behalf. For example, Karen Redman alone spent some $22,600 on First Contact. I would assume these companies were making calls on behalf of Karen Redman and the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party has known it for some time, but, instead, carried on its unsubstantiated smear campaign on this party and its candidates. It is reprehensible.

[41st General Elections, March 1st, 2012]

It is very interesting, Mr. Speaker. Once again, the Conservative Party conducted a clean and ethical campaign and we have absolutely nothing to apologize for in that regard.

What is clear also is that the Liberal Party has known for some time that it hired these firms, firms that made calls from the U.S., firms that used robo-dialing, and indicated they were calling on behalf of the Liberal Party because it appears they were, including in the riding of Saint Boniface, as referenced. The Liberal Party did in fact hire that same company.

[41st General Election, March 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, once again, a Liberal candidate from Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon wrote a letter to the editor saying that she relied on First Contact and that First Contact uses patented technology based in the United States. We see that candidates who were running for the Liberal Party used this very company to do voter contact information for them.

The Liberals are saying that misleading calls went into Vancouver by callers claiming to be from the Liberal Party. It is pretty clear that they were in fact calling on behalf of the Liberal Party because the Liberal Party hired this company to do it.

[41st General Election, March 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party has known all along which companies it contracted to do voter contact during the election but it has allowed this to go on. It has not just allowed it to go on but it has made baseless smears against our party for more than a week, despite the fact that it knew the companies that it had hired, U.S.-based companies, were calling on behalf of the Liberal Party, just like it probably knew who was making the smears against the Minister of Public Safety long before you determined it, Mr. Speaker.

I would say to the leader of the Liberal Party, no more dirty tricks.

[41st General Election, March 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, in a letter to the editor, written by Diane Janzen, a Liberal candidate in Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon, she indicated that First Contact relies on patented technology. The patent and server are based in the U.S.

I read a story just a few minutes ago out of the riding of Northumberland—Quinte West about an individual who had received numerous annoying phone calls from a caller indicating the call was on behalf of Liberal candidate Kim Rudd. Kim Rudd, in fact, paid $11,300 to First Contact to conduct research work in that riding. It turns out—