 Delegates line up to vote for Liberal Party of Canada executive and commission officers during the Liberal Biennial Convention in Ottawa January 14, 2012. (Reuters/BLAIR GABLE)
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OTTAWA - The Quebec Liberal Party said Monday that it has been the victim of malicious phone calls in at least two electoral ridings.
"Ill-intentioned opponents" made a series of English-language robocalls to French speakers in the Quebec City region, according to a post published Monday on the Liberal party website.
The party said that a pre-recorded message was sent to voters referring them to a phone number with a "false message."
The Liberals claimed that for the past several days, voters in Laval, just north of Montreal, were also targeted by "actual callers repeatedly calling electors with an aggressive tone while falsely presenting themselves as Liberals."
The party said it complained to the provincial police and the office of Quebec's chief electoral officer.
The office of Quebec's chief electoral officer confirmed to QMI Agency that it was looking into the allegations.
A provincial police spokesperson could not confirm that the force received the Liberals' complaint.
"We're still verifying the information," the spokesperson said.
Robocalls were an issue during the last federal election.
The Liberals and NDP have hammered the Conservative party for its alleged involvement in a misleading robocalls in Guelph, Ont. during the last federal campaign.
By mid August, Elections Canada received nearly 1,400 complaints about "alleged improper phone calls" in the 2011 election. The federal agency is still investigating.
However, to date, only the Liberal Party of Canada has been caught making illegal calls. Liberal MP Frank Valeriote was recently slapped with a $4,900 fine for a robocall that broke telecom rules during the 2011 federal campaign.
