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Elections Canada poring over Conservatives’ ‘constituency information management system’ in search for Pierre Poutine

Everyone wants to know who is behind the mysterious Pierre Poutine character at the centre of the “robocalls” drama in Ontario’s Guelph riding. As part of their investigation into allegations that voters received automated calls directing them to non-existent polling stations during the federal election last year, Elections Canada is poring over internal emails and electronic records kept by the Conservative Party.

The Globe and Mail reported Wednesday that Elections Canada is focusing on internal documents that the party uses to identify and keep track of voters–in what is called the constituency information management system (CIMS), which was created under Stephen Harper’s leadership. A Conservative source told the newspaper that 10 to 15 people in the party’s Guelph campaign office had access to the system.

Michael Sona, the Conservative staffer who has resigned in the midst of the controversy, notably never used his CIMS account during the election, according to the Globe‘s source. That casts further doubt on the suspicion that Sona is Pierre Poutine. On Tuesday, the 23-year-old denied reports that he had confessed to being responsible for the illegal phone calls in Guelph.

 

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