There is more than a whiff of criminality surrounding the Harper government. Earlier this year a taped interview of Prime Minister Harper indicated he was aware of Conservative Party officials attempts to bribe MP Chuck Cadman in order to bring down the Liberal government. Now we have this odious business of the Conservatives secretly recording an NDP conference call and releasing it to the media via the PM’s office.
According to the Criminal Code of Canada,
184 [1] Every one who, by means of any electro-magnetic, acoustic, mechanical or other device, wilfully intercepts a private communication is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.
The NDP has said that it will raise the action as a violation of parliamentary ethics and will consider pressing charges.
Let’s hope they do. In my view, the second order of business for the new coalition government (after addressing the economic challenges we face) would be to hold these lawless Tories accountable.
Update: Winnipeg support for coalition government grows
Yesterday I reported that a Winnipeg Free Press Reader’s Poll had 51% supporting the formation of a Liberal-NDP coalition. Since then, the support for a coalition government has grown considerably.
Should the Opposition topple the federal Tory government?
| No. 28% |  |
| Yes, and force an election. 2% | |
| Yes, and form a governing coalition. 68% | |
Total Votes: 6455
Lawless Tories, start your shredders!
Unfortunately, a further section says it is legal to record as long as one party to the conversation knows about it
http://www.efc.ca/pages/law/cc/cc.183.1.html
183.1 Where a private communication is originated by more than one person or is intended by the originator thereof to be received by more than one person, a consent to the interception thereof by any one of those persons is sufficient consent for the purposes of any provision of this Part. [1993, c.40, s.2.]
and it seems the Conservative was accidentally invited to the conference call, so technically this is legal
Thanks for your contribution. I think we should leave it to the courts to decide if an accidental invitation to participate in a conference call constitutes permission to record that call and disseminate it.