London West New Democrats are concerned after complaints from voters that robocalls from a national polling firm misidentified their candidate, Peggy Sattler, as the Green Party candidate.
The news comes at a time when voter cynicism in Ontario could be at its peak, and has some wondering if it’s an honest mistake or a dirty trick.
Sattler is a former school board chair and long-time NDP member, but campaign official Alex Callahan says it’s hard to win the confidence of voters if they’re not sure what party she represents.
“I think that a lot of people are already a little cynical about the timing of this byelection this summer when a lot of people are out of town or focused on other things. And something like this really, you know, turns people off.”
NDP officials have appealed to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to find out who is behind the calls and if they were intended to mislead voters.
Callahan says “On this call Peggy Sattler is identified as a Green candidate. Of course folks in this riding have probably seen the signs around. Peggy Sattler is running as a New Democrat. So we're just, you know, we're concerned that people may have got some information that wasn't accurate and we'd like that cleared up.”
The NDP says the polling firm identifies itself as PCG National Research, but doesn’t know who contracted the company.
In a statement to CTV London, Liberal candidate Ken Coran says his party is not responsible.
“Neither myself personally, nor my campaign have been involved with the company in question and we encourage Elections Ontario to investigate these claims at their earliest possible opportunity.”
The president of PCG National Research, Josh Justice, tells CTV London his firm did conduct non-partisan polling in London West last week.
He also says the firm’s subsidiary company, Prime Contact, is working for the London West Liberals this week providing voters with information on where and when they can vote.
