Ottawa

Speaking of unsubstantiated

The Conservative side tried yesterday to turn around the accusations against them. This apparently did not go so well.

“The opposition parties said that [their supporters] received calls from a telephone firm with offices in North Dakota. But the only party who hired a firm with offices in North Dakota was the Liberal Party,” Poilievre said…

The confusion centred on three call companies with similar names, including Prime Contact Group, based in Canada, and Prime Contact Inc., based in North Dakota. A spokesman for Prime Contact Inc. told CBC News that the company has never worked for a Canadian political party or candidate and is not affiliated in any way with Prime Contact Group.

Harper said a third company, First Contact, routed its calls through the U.S. A number of Liberal campaigns used First Contact for calls during the 2011 election and in at least one previous election. But First Contact owner Mike O’Neill told the CBC’s Dave Seglins last April that someone was “spoofing” First Contact’s numbers — projecting a fake caller ID — to impersonate his company.

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