Byelection twist: Identity theft?

Well, here's an unusual, last-minute, byelection twist.

The Bloc Quebecois MP, Christiane Gagnon, has formally launched a complaint with local police in Rivière-du-Loup for identity theft.

Yeah, you read that right: identity theft.

Here's the claim: Gagnon says Bloc supporters have been getting calls from an automated dialer message system. The voice is that of a woman, purporting to be a Bloc organizer and asking for support.

The problem is, according to the Bloc, that the message itself sounds hesitant, not convincing and rather unbelievable. In fact, it's not from them at all. It also just seems to angering people who are getting the calls.

The phone number left at the end of the "fake" message: that of Christiane Gagnon's riding office in Quebec City.

And so, today the Bloc took formal action. Filing complaints attached with official affidavits with police and a complaint with the federal Elections Commissioner.

Now, the BQ isn't too eager to find blame here. At least not on the record.

But the Conservatives do use the automated dialer message system. In this case, they say they've used it three times only. And never pretending to be anyone from the Bloc.

One Conservative does admit though that the entire campaign has been rather "dirty."

It is expected to be a tight race there tonight, between Bloc candidate Nancy Gagnon and the Conservative candidate Bernard Généreux.

As for the identify theft allegations: that's to be continued.