A former MP battling to regain his seat in a hotly contested Winnipeg riding says unknown imposters are calling voters on behalf of the Liberal party and being rude to people in order to turn them off voting Liberal in the upcoming federal election.
Liberal candidate Ray Simard said yesterday he was out door-knocking in the St. Boniface riding Monday afternoon and was told by potential voters they had been contacted by someone representing the Liberals and were treated poorly.
Simard said similar calls have been happening to Liberal candidates in at least eight other Canadian ridings — in one case, the calls were coming from somewhere in North Dakota, Simard said.
He suggested the calls may be orchestrated by the Conservatives, but admitted he had no proof.
“It’s part of the way these guys do business,” he told Metro.
In the 2008 federal election, Simard lost his seat to incumbent Conservative MP Shelly Glover.
Glover spokeswoman Myrrhanda Novak called Simard’s comments “unfortunate,” and denied Glover’s camp had any involvement.
“This is just part of what happens during a campaign,” Novak said, adding some Conservatives have also been the target of “clearly unprofessional” calls to voters.
“We’re not going to go blaming our opponents for it,” she said.
