to ‘misinformation’ or a misleading poll moving call. . . . Sona spoke to McBain about wanting to set up an auto-dial call so that the payment for the calls would not track back to the campaign.” After featuringthe incorrect information prominently in a brief ITO, Mathews buried the correction deep in a lengthy affidavit and printed it as a tiny footnote. 14 McBain claimed that he warned Sona off any misconduct as the party would not stand for it—a story Sona disputed. According to him, McBain said he would look into it but never called back.
Before talking to the person who had put Michael Sona and Matt McBain together, Mathews called Chris Crawford for an interview. Crawford was a junior staffer who worked as a voter contact person on the Guelph campaign, entering data in CIMS. He was responsible for organizing the door-to-door campaign for Burke. Each morning, he would download “walk sheets” from CIMS grouped by individual polls, using the campaign computer. The names, addresses, and phone numbers of voters were recorded, as well as whether the voter was a Conservative Party supporter or contributor. Canvassers would record the response they received at the door, whether supporter or non-supporter, and note the presence of lawn signs. Crawford would scan the new material into CIMS using a barcode reader, and CIMS was updated nightly with the latest data from the ridings.
The investigators had a good reason for wanting to talk to Chris Crawford. He and Sona had been friends at the University of Guelph, where they had both been members of the campus Conservative club. Crawford and Sona had also been roommates when they were interns for the Conservative Party in 2009. Crawford told investigators that one evening while he was inputting CIMS data during the Guelph campaign, he overheard Sona talking to campaign manager Ken Morgan about “how the Americans do politics.” The conversation included fake calls about polling station changes, and the strategy of calling non-supporters late at night pretending to be your opponent. Crawford told investigators he “did not think Sona was serious,”but claimed he warned his co-worker that such talk was inappropriate. Interestingly, Crawford, like Matt McBain, did not come forward with his information about Sona and alleged dirty tricks in Guelph until he was contacted by investigators. And even then he didn’t go to Elections Canada, but rather to Conservative Party headquarters. From Fred DeLorey, he quickly followed the familiar path to Arthur Hamilton.
Shortly after the interview with Mathews on March 6, 2012, Crawford was promoted from special assistant to director of parliamentary affairs in the office of intergovernmental affairs minister Peter Penashue. Crawford received a $15,000 pay raise. (Penashue himself was forced to resign March 14, 2013, when it became public that he had accepted improper donations to his 2011 campaign. He ran in the subsequent by-election but lost.) Jenni Byrne denied a connection between Crawford’s statement and his promotion. She sent an email to Maher and McGregor, who were doing a one-year review of the robocalls story: “Mr. Crawford relayed to Elections Canada information he thought they should know and he is comfortable with the accuracy of what he conveyed. No promotion or raise for Mr. Crawford was in any way related to the assistance he provided to Elections Canada. The Conservative Party has always assisted Elections Canada in this matter, and has always called upon anyone with anything that might be relevant to convey it to Elections Canada.”
Next on the investigators’ list was John White, who was the Get Out the Vote chair for the Burke campaign in Guelph, and the person who vouched for Michael Sona with Matt McBain. On April 3, 2012, Mathews interviewed White, who claimed that Sona had approached him during the election “about doing some stuff that might not be okay and I told him, go talk to Matt.” According
Before talking to the person who had put Michael Sona and Matt McBain together, Mathews called Chris Crawford for an interview. Crawford was a junior staffer who worked as a voter contact person on the Guelph campaign, entering data in CIMS. He was responsible for organizing the door-to-door campaign for Burke. Each morning, he would download “walk sheets” from CIMS grouped by individual polls, using the campaign computer. The names, addresses, and phone numbers of voters were recorded, as well as whether the voter was a Conservative Party supporter or contributor. Canvassers would record the response they received at the door, whether supporter or non-supporter, and note the presence of lawn signs. Crawford would scan the new material into CIMS using a barcode reader, and CIMS was updated nightly with the latest data from the ridings.
The investigators had a good reason for wanting to talk to Chris Crawford. He and Sona had been friends at the University of Guelph, where they had both been members of the campus Conservative club. Crawford and Sona had also been roommates when they were interns for the Conservative Party in 2009. Crawford told investigators that one evening while he was inputting CIMS data during the Guelph campaign, he overheard Sona talking to campaign manager Ken Morgan about “how the Americans do politics.” The conversation included fake calls about polling station changes, and the strategy of calling non-supporters late at night pretending to be your opponent. Crawford told investigators he “did not think Sona was serious,”but claimed he warned his co-worker that such talk was inappropriate. Interestingly, Crawford, like Matt McBain, did not come forward with his information about Sona and alleged dirty tricks in Guelph until he was contacted by investigators. And even then he didn’t go to Elections Canada, but rather to Conservative Party headquarters. From Fred DeLorey, he quickly followed the familiar path to Arthur Hamilton.
Shortly after the interview with Mathews on March 6, 2012, Crawford was promoted from special assistant to director of parliamentary affairs in the office of intergovernmental affairs minister Peter Penashue. Crawford received a $15,000 pay raise. (Penashue himself was forced to resign March 14, 2013, when it became public that he had accepted improper donations to his 2011 campaign. He ran in the subsequent by-election but lost.) Jenni Byrne denied a connection between Crawford’s statement and his promotion. She sent an email to Maher and McGregor, who were doing a one-year review of the robocalls story: “Mr. Crawford relayed to Elections Canada information he thought they should know and he is comfortable with the accuracy of what he conveyed. No promotion or raise for Mr. Crawford was in any way related to the assistance he provided to Elections Canada. The Conservative Party has always assisted Elections Canada in this matter, and has always called upon anyone with anything that might be relevant to convey it to Elections Canada.”
Next on the investigators’ list was John White, who was the Get Out the Vote chair for the Burke campaign in Guelph, and the person who vouched for Michael Sona with Matt McBain. On April 3, 2012, Mathews interviewed White, who claimed that Sona had approached him during the election “about doing some stuff that might not be okay and I told him, go talk to Matt.” According
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