A Saskatoon man says he’s becoming increasingly frustrated with automated phone calls from Saskatchewan Party leadership candidates, even though he’s not a member of the political party.
Aime Decae said he’s received around 10 robocalls from two Sask. Party leadership candidates over the last month. Decae admitted he is a supporter of the party, but he’s asked multiple times for the calls to stop.
“They start infringing on my privacy in my home through an automated phone call,” he said. “They don't even have the courtesy to call me directly. That’s upsetting and it keeps going on and I hope, by the coming to light, maybe they can change the method of how they contact card-carrying members and/or constituents in their area.”
Decae said the calls continued despite him calling the campaign offices of two separate leadership candidates and asking for them to stop.
“I was very explicit. I spelled my name and my number,” he said. “Then there was one call when I was asked to stay on the line to join an online forum to discuss ideas of what our new leader should do for the Sask. Party, and you can’t interrupt them.”
Decae added that the automated calls often hold up his landline for around 15 minutes at a time, even if he tries to hang up.
The federal government currently exempts robocalls for regular telemarketers who have an existing relationship with their customers. Other exempt telemarketers include registered charities, newspapers, political parties, as well as organizations that conduct market research, polls and surveys.
In a statement, the Sask. Party said all of its political candidates are bound by CRTC guidelines when it comes to robocalling.
“As with any other election, during this leadership process, if an individual requests to be put on the ‘Do Not Call’ list, the Saskatchewan Party removes that person from our master call list without question, and forwards that request to each of the leadership campaigns,” the statement read.
“Again, all leadership campaigns are bound by the CRTC guidelines as the Saskatchewan Party, and our party has been diligent in removing individuals from our master call list when they request it. If any person is still receiving calls directly from candidates, they should contact that candidate and request to be removed from the call list.”
The Sask. Party confirmed Decae is not a member of the party. Party spokesperson Dale Richardson said his phone number and contact information would not have come from the Saskatchewan Party membership list.
“Another campaign may have picked him up as a supporter at some point, as he does say that he is a supporter of the Saskatchewan Party,” Richardson said. “Regardless of whether he’s a member, though, if he has requested to be put on the DNC list, that must be done.”
