Conservative MPs seeking $355K from voters who launched robocalls court case

OTTAWA – Seven Conservative MPs are seeking a combined $355,907 from a group of voters who went to court and lost their bid to overturn election results in their federal ridings because of misleading robocalls.

A document recently filed in Federal Court says the Tories are asking for a “modest fixed amount” in legal fees, plus disbursements.

But the Council of Canadians — which bankrolled the voters’ Federal Court case — calls it an “outrageous amount to request.”

A Federal Court judge concluded last month that fraud was a factor in the misleading calls, but not enough of one to justify overturning the result.

The ruling cleared the Conservative party and its candidates of any effort to mislead voters, but said the most likely source of information used to make the misleading calls was the party’s voter database.

Initially, the results in seven federal ridings were challenged, but the one in Don Valley East was dropped because the woman challenging the result didn’t actually live in the riding.

The other six ridings in question were Vancouver Island North in British Columbia; Yukon; Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar in Saskatchewan; Elmwood-Transcona and Winnipeg South Centre in Manitoba; and Nipissing-Timiskaming in Ontario.