Allegations that someone connected to the ruling party misled voters is starting to sully the Conservatives' clean image
Nearly a month after we first heard his name, Canadians are still wondering: who is Pierre Poutine of Separatist Street, in Québec?
Whoever he is, "Poutine" has caused a whole lot of trouble for the ruling Conservative party in Canada, which has become engulfed in what's become known as the "robocall scandal" less than a year after winning its first overall majority.
The allegations, in essence, are these: a burner cellphone registered to Poutine is alleged to have placed robocalls intended to direct voters to the wrong polling stations in Guelph, Ontario, during the 2011 federal election.
Elections Canada, the elections watchdog, is investigating the scandal, which some say is so bad that new by-elections must be held. But the repercussions are wide because there are suggestions that Poutine is connected to the Conservatives. That has put the Tories' image as the party of propriety under severe strain.
The evidence has come to light thanks initially to two reporters broke the story of the investigation back in February. . Since then, more alleged calls have been uncovered – along with suggestions of a strategy by the Conservatives to misdirect voters if they did not identify themselves during telephone calls as supporters of the party.
Elections Canada has now logged 31,000 "contacts" on the issue, although only 700 have offered specifics.
Meanwhile, debate over the issue has slid into familiar rhetorical territory. Canada's federal opposition parties, the New Democrats and Liberals, have demanded a full public inquiry to flesh out what happened in Guelph and, as they have been further alleging for weeks, in other parts of the country as well. One MP said that only "dope dealers and Hell's Angels" use burner cellphones.
The Conservative government has responded with a shifting narrative that has veered from assertions of ignorance to co-operation with the authorities, before finally blaming the Liberals for the entire thing.
When faced with questions on the scandal, the prime minister's parliamentary secretary, Dean Del Mastro, has obfuscated, offering obtuse and often absurd answers – mostly ones that suggest it has all been some sort of grand Liberal conspiracy. His favourite line is that the allegations are "baseless smears".
What has defined the Conservative government for years has been its ability to present the image of a steady hand. While that's been the case with many of its moves of late, its grip has slipped.
And while national polling suggests the scandal isn't necessarily changing people's voting intentions, two have at the same time shown Canadians are tending to be less impressed with the direction the country is heading.
The response to the allegations of voter fraud is crucial for this reason. If there was any hint as to how this is playing inside the often drum-tight walls of the prime minister's office, its PR strategy could be it. During the years of minority and now majority Conservative governments, it has been rare for the party's talking points not to have been solid. Love them or hate them, these guys know how to define a narrative.
That they have failed to do so in the robocall scandal suggests a sense of unease. After all, this marauding story has so far chewed up everything they've thrown at it. And it's still coming.
More than that, the Conservative rhetoric has been built on being the anti-Liberal party, the bleach solution to the gang that brought Canada the last major political nightmare, the sponsorship scandal.
The Elections Canada investigation will take some time – enough, perhaps, that it will still be looming as Canada gears up for another election in just over three years. Strong as they are, and successful as they've been, the Conservatives can't afford to let their clean image curdle.