There is no party tougher on crime than the Conservatives.
We admit, we've earlier decried their commitment to ineffective measures like building more prisons and instituting longer sentences. Still, we find ourselves grateful for their tough guy stance when we're confronted by a particularly egregious crime, such as Michael Sona's attempt to subvert the 2011 federal election.
The former Conservative staffer hit 6,000 residents of Guelph, Ont. with misleading robocalls just before the election in an attempt to keep voters from their polling stations.
Sona, just 26 years old, faces nine months in jail although he could get parole sometime around Valentine's Day.
Like the vast majority of political operatives who get caught with their hand in the ballot box, Sona acted alone.
But while the Conservative party bears no responsibility for what happened, the onus is on them to see it doesn't happen again.
As each federal election campaign ends up spattered with mud and innuendo, we need all major parties to trumpet tougher sentences for staffers who cross that line.
Sona's actions targeted a few Guelph voters, many of them Liberal supporters, but his crime is an assault on democracy.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered some stirring words on Remembrance Day. He stated that all members of the Canadian Armed Forces wear a uniform recognized across the world as a "symbol of courage and democracy."
We agree, and while soldiers defend democracy abroad, we hope the Prime Minister defends it at home.
