OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The Federal Liberal Association in Guelph, ON, has been hit with a $4,900 fine by the CRTC for its use of automatic dialers, also known as robocalls, during the 2011 election.
The Commission said Friday that its decision pertained to robocalls made over a period of approximately one hour on April 30, 2011 that did not comply with the country’s Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules. The violations involved a pre-recorded message sent by the Association that failed to identify on whose behalf the call was made, did not provide necessary call-back information, and failed to display the originating telephone number or an alternate number where the originator could be reached.
In addition to paying the administrative monetary penalty, the Association and Liberal MP Frank Valeriote, who won the election, have agreed to implement a compliance program that includes:
– acknowledgement of all applicable rules and a commitment to comply fully with them;
– appointment of a Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules compliance officer;
– an education and training program for volunteers;
– appropriate record retention;
– appropriate compliance measures with third party service providers; and
– promotion of better awareness of the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules.
“We appreciate that Mr. Valeriote and the Association fully cooperated with our investigation and committed to comply with the Rules in future campaigns,” said Andrea Rosen, the CRTC’s chief compliance and enforcement officer, in a statement. “We expect political party associations and candidates who are running for office to put appropriate safeguards in place to ensure compliance with the rules.”
