Michael Sona poses for a photo in Guelph, Ont., on Dec. 2, the day after he was released on bail after serving 13 days of his nine-month sentence for election fraud in connection with a Guelph robocall that sent voters to the wrong polling location. Photo: Stephen Maher /Postmedia News The Council of Canadians has filed a complaint with the Public Prosecution Service over the Crown’s move to seek a longer sentence for robocall culprit Michael Sona while the “ringleaders of the election fraud campaign” remain at large.
On Monday, the Crown filed notice that it wants to jail Sona for more than the nine months’ sentence he received from Justice Gary Hearn in Guelph, Ont., on Nov. 19.
Former Conservative party staffer Michael Sona.
Sona has been out on bail since Dec. 2 while his lawyer, Howard Krongold, prepares an appeal. Sona, 26, was convicted in August of violating the Elections Act by “wilfully preventing or endeavouring to prevent” voters from casting their ballots by sending a robocall to thousands of opposition supporters, fraudulently telling them their polling station had moved.
The Crown said that “the sentence imposed by the trial judge is demonstrably unfit and fails to reflect the gravity of the offence.”
The Council of Canadians, a left-leaning advocacy group, wrote to Brian Saunders, director of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada on Thursday, suggesting that if the crime is so serious, then authorities should make more of an effort to find those responsible.
“If the gravity of the offence is sufficient to warrant a more serious sentence it warrants a more serious investigation to find the perpetrators who are still at large,” says the letter, which is signed by chairperson Maude Barlow and executive director Garry Neil.
Howard Krongold, lawyer for Michael Sona, speaks to media in a file photo. (Laura Pedersen/National Post)
The council pointed to a federal court ruling from Justice Richard Mosley, who found last year in a suit brought by the council that the Conservatives’ CIMS database was used to make voter suppression calls in ridings across Canada.
“As we underscored to the Commissioner of Canada Elections, this case is far from closed and a new investigation is necessary,” says the letter. “The PPSC has a mandate and a responsibility to re-open the investigation.”
The election-day call in Guelph used data from the Conservative party’s voter-contact database and were arranged using a disposable phone registered to the now-infamous pseudonym, Pierre Poutine.
Sona claimed he had been scapegoated by the Conservative party.
In delivering his guilty finding, Hearn said there was evidence presented at trial to suggest that Sona did not act alone. He made no finding about who else participated but pointed to evidence related to Guelph Conservative campaign manager Ken Morgan and deputy campaign manager Andrew Prescott.
Prescott was given an immunity deal in exchange for testimony against Sona, his former friend. Hearn dismissed most of Prescott’s testimony as self-serving.
Undated Facebook photo of Stephen Harper with Andrew Prescott.
Morgan moved to Kuwait and has never spoken to Elections Canada investigators.
A spokeswoman for the Commissioner of Canada Elections said Thursday that the agency has closed the file.
“We have completed our investigation into the Guelph robocalls case and presented all of our findings to the Crown,” said Michelle Laliberte. “That said, should any new information be brought to our attention, it will be assessed to determine if there is a requirement to investigate.”
A spokesman for federal prosecutors said it is not up to them to investigate electoral wrongdoing.
“PPSC is not an investigative agency,” said Dan Brien. “It’s not in our mandate to initiate, conduct or direct investigations.”
— With files from Glen McGregor, Postmedia News
smaher@postmedia.com
@stphnmaher
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