Star robocalls witness points to Guelph Tory campaign chief

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 04 Juni 2014 | 22.41

Andrew Prescott, the star witness at the trial of Michael Sona, suggested Guelph, Ont., Conservative campaign manager Ken Morgan was involved in setting up the misleading robocalls that confused voters in the last federal election.

Prescott, the deputy campaign manager for the Conservative candidate in Guelph in 2011, said the campaign office was getting reports from supporters on May 2 that year that they had received phone calls telling them their polling station had moved and that the polls would close early.

Prescott says Morgan told him he had to help stop the calls, handed him a sheet of paper with a scrawled log-i‎n and password, and had him cancel calls that were still pending.

Prescott also alleges Sona emerged from his cubicle the morning of election day and said "it's working."​

Campaign manager left before investigation

Morgan took a teaching job in Kuwait before the investigation into the misleading calls was made public, and isn't one of the witnesses for the trial.

Sona is the only person accused. He faces a single charge of wilfully preventing or endeavouring to prevent a voter from casting a ballot.

The campaign used a website that let them deploy prerecorded messages by phone to lists of supporters. Sona is accused of using the same system to try to prevent supporters of other political parties from voting.

Prescott told the court he saw a cellphone on Sona's desk at the campaign office, and packaging in the garbage can.

Prescott says he has worked at Future Shop in the past and recognized the cellphone as a burner, or disposable, phone.

The misleading calls were made from a disposable cellphone registered under the name Pierre Poutine.

Sona's lawyer had accused Prescott of involvement

On Tuesday, Sona's lawyer suggested Prescott may be the real culprit behind the call. Prescott has rarely spoken about the robocalls investigation, but in October 2012 called misleading voters a "disgusting" trick and said he appreciated the support of family and friends who knew he had nothing to do with it.

Prescott's immunity agreement may make him the most important witness in the Crown's case.

The IT worker left Ontario in the wake of the allegations swirling around the Guelph Conservatives in the past few years.

Prescott arrived alone at the courthouse Tuesday afternoon and had to pass Sona, who gave him a tight smile. The two haven't spoken in months despite having toiled on the same election campaign.

Sona has maintained innocence 

Sona has always said he had nothing to do with the calls, but faces up to five years in prison if convicted of the single charge. 

Sona, 22 at the time of the campaign, was the director of communications for Conservative candidate Marty Burke.

While hundreds of people outside Guelph also complained about misleading or harassing robocalls, a report by Elections Canada later found that there wasn't enough evidence to support the idea of a co-ordinated campaign to suppress the vote across the country.

The trial, which began Monday, is to last eight days.


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