RoboCons: the ultimate professional agitators

Two little items, both related. First up, from the National Pest, we learn that a certain SupposiTory who “won” by unfair means is stomping his widdle feet and suing to keep a trophy to which he is not entitled:

A Conservative whose election to the Commons was overturned by a Toronto judge says he’ll take the case to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Ted Opitz won the Toronto seat of Etobicoke Centre by just 26 votes over Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj.

The loser went to court, claiming procedural irregularities.

An Ontario Superior Court judge found that Elections Canada officials made clerical errors at the polls.

The judge threw out 79 votes and overturned the final result.

Opitz says election results should be respected and he will ask the Supreme Court to decide the matter.

A false election result should be “respected”? No, Ted, sorry. Democracy doesn’t work that way.

And democracy, it seems, is the real thorn in the collective side of all the SupposiTories now:

Stephen Harper’s Conservatives are asking a court to dismiss legal bids for new elections in seven ridings because, they say, the group financing this is full of “professional agitators” who hate Tories and want to topple the government.

They’re fighting an effort by nine individuals who are seeking new ballots in seven closely fought federal ridings where it’s alleged that misleading robo-calls or other harassing phone messages interfered with fair elections.

[…]

The Conservatives alleges the left-leaning Council of Canadians, which is underwriting the legal challenges of seven ridings where Tories won, is guided by “antipathy … towards the Conservative Party” and a desire to see the NDP take power.

“The true applicant, the Council, is an activist group with a long-standing animus against the Conservative Party,” the Tory motion says.

“The Council’s motive in sponsoring the applications is to attack its political enemy, the Conservative Party, rather than assisting citizens in asserting … legitimate legal rights.”

Like, oh, say, a full, fair, free democratic vote without interference from illegal robocalls? Last time I looked, that WAS a legitimate legal right. And good on the Council of Canadians for fighting for it.

As for that “they hate us because we won” whine, well, it’s kind of hard to like a “winner” who got there illegitimately, and who fights tooth and nail to let illegalities stand. I’d say all Canadians who care about our democracy have a damn good reason to hate anyone who stands in its way…or who tries to rig it in their own favor.

Gotta hand it to the Harper Government™ and its SupposiTories: the only thing they do better than sore losing is insecure “winning”. Unfortunately, they suck at everything else. Especially popular, democratic governance.

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